Conceptual Artifacts Research Articles

Analysis of leakage artifacts and their impact on convergence of algebraic reconstruction in multi-contrast magnetic particle imaging

Objective.Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a tracer-based medical imaging modality with great potential due to its high sensitivity, high spatiotemporal resolution, and ability to quantify the tracer concentration. Image reconstruction in MPI is an ill-posed problem, which the use of regularization methods can address. Multi-contrast MPI reconstructs the signal from different tracer materials or environments separately, resulting in multi-channel images that enable quantification of, for example, temperature or viscosity. Single- and multi-contrast MPI reconstructions produce different kinds of artifacts. The objective of this work is threefold: first, to present the concept of multi-contrast specific MPI channel leakage artifacts; second, to ascertain the source of these leakage artifacts; and third, to introduce a method for their reduction.Approach.A definition for leakage artifacts is established, and a quantification method is proposed. A comprehensive analysis is conducted to establish a connection between the properties of the multi-contrast MPI system matrix and the leakage artifacts. Moreover, a two-step measurement and reconstruction method is introduced to reduce channel leakage artifacts between multi-contrast MPI channels.Main results.The severity of these artifacts correlates with the system matrix shape and condition number and depends on the similarity of the corresponding frequency components. Using the proposed two-step method on both semi-simulated and measured data a significant leakage reduction and speed up the convergence of the multi-contrast MPI reconstruction was observed.Significance.The multi-contrast system matrix analysis we conducted is essential for understanding the source of the channel leakage artifacts and finding methods to reduce them. Our proposed two-step method is expected to improve the potential for real-time multi-contrast MPI applications.

Are Interactive Exhibits at a Science Center Cognitive Artifacts?

AbstractThe paper examines the semiotic and cognitive status of interactive exhibits at science centers, taking the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw (CSC) as an example. Such science centers support bottom-up interactions, encouraging visitors to spontaneously explore the exhibits in various ways. We analyze one distinctive way of interaction, when young visitors ignore an exhibit’s instruction and use it as if it were a kind of a toy or machine to play with (this is particularly common with exhibits that are unfamiliar “open-ended objects”). Drawing on cognitive semiotics we describe this particular way of interacting with exhibits as the reality mode of experience, in which the user ignores an intended exhibit’s representational function. We consider whether such interactive objects can be framed as cognitive artifacts, given that standard conceptualizations of artifacts emphasize their representational function. How can we convincingly describe the process by which the cognitive function of an exhibit experienced in reality mode is constituted? In this paper we apply concept of ecological cognitive artifact and the idea of the enactive signification to these questions. We argue that exhibits experienced in reality mode do indeed perform cognitive functions, even in the absence of a representational relation. Our investigation provides insights into the cognitive functions of exhibits and contributes to the conceptualization of non-representational cognitive artifacts.

Enable Effective Digital Engineering Information Exchange using Digital Viewpoint Model (DVM) Framework

AbstractThe objective of the Digital Viewpoint Model (DVM) framework is to characterize the content and relationships involved in the exchange of digital artifacts and its curation for stakeholder use and consumption. The DVM Framework structures the characterizations in four inter‐related ontological concepts — Stakeholder, Digital View, Digital Artifact and Process. The Stakeholder concept focuses on the definition of stakeholder needs in terms of perspectives. The Digital View concept focuses on the construction of views that relate inter‐disciplinary data that conforms to stakeholder needs and constraints. The Digital Artifact concept focuses on ensuring the quality and trustworthiness of data being used to construct the digital views. The Process concepts provide a construct to define necessary work activities to extract data to use. Applications of the DVM Framework are described in form of use cases to demonstrate its utility in facilitating effective digital engineering information exchange.

Coupling of porosity and diffusive transport in highly reactive systems: Open issues of reactive transport modelling

Mineral precipitation at interfaces between contrasting materials and porewaters decreases the local porosity and consequently reduces transport across the interface. The near-field of waste repositories usually contains reactive interfaces, and the long-term evolution of diffusive transport away from the waste across the near-field is of special interest in this context. Diffusion as well as further mineral reactions significantly slow down when complete porosity clogging is approached, such that any further development is difficult to detect in experiments. But ongoing diffusion, even if very limited, might be significant for relevant times of up to 1 million years. If clogging occurs in clay materials, experimental studies report a much stronger decrease in anion diffusion compared to that of cations or neutral species. Continuum-scale reactive transport codes can predict experimentally observed clogging, but rely on specific implementations based on conceptual assumptions. Typically, the codes calculate porewater-mineral reactions only within a single cell, and they neglect the physical contact of the clogging mineral in one cell with the porewater in an adjacent cell (no inter-cell reactions considered). This can lead to unrealistic model predictions if porosity approaches zero. For instance, neutral pH porewater is permitted to be in contact with clogging cement hydrates in the adjacent cell, and the implied dissolution of the high-pH minerals is not considered anymore. Thus, intrinsically reactive minerals can be converted erroneously into inert, relict phases by such models. We present a new approach that mimics inter-cell reactions. In doing so, clogging is substantially delayed, and no real steady state with the boundary conditions can be attained, in contrast to conventional approaches. Furthermore, we use a dual-porosity reactive transport approach that takes into account the electrostatic effects of charged clay surfaces on diffusion and precipitation, and apply it to concrete-clay interaction. No complete clogging of the pore space occurs, and the predictions well fit experimental data. Modelling studies that predict the separation of a reactive system into two domains by localised full porosity clogging, followed by separate internal equilibration of the domains, are widespread in the literature. This prediction is interpreted as a conceptual artefact of continuum-scale modelling, which should be avoided by allowing for reactions of completely clogged cells with adjacent porewater. For clays, the dual-porosity model may be a viable option in this respect.

Designing impact due diligence for startups

This paper explores the challenges impact investors face in assessing the social and environmental impact of startups, as traditional venture investing tools cannot fully capture their unique characteristics. Following a design science approach, we identify three startup-specific design requirements in the literature and propose five design principles. Building on this, we present a conceptual impact due diligence that takes into account the specific criteria for evaluating impact-driven startups. We conduct alpha tests with expert interviews that confirm the overall practical relevance and applicability of the framework. The study makes a theoretical and practical contribution to research in sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability accounting by identifying solutions to the specific challenges of valuing such startups. Practitioners can use the resulting conceptual artifact to adapt their impact evaluation practices.

Extending the Framework for Developing Intelligent Virtual Environments (FIVE) with Artifacts for Modeling Internet of Things Devices and a New Decentralized Federated Learning Based on Consensus for Dynamic Networks.

One of the main lines of research in distributed learning in recent years is the one related to Federated Learning (FL). In this work, a decentralized Federated Learning algorithm based on consensus (CoL) is applied to Wireless Ad-hoc Networks (WANETs), where the agents communicate with other agents to share their learning model as they are available to the wireless connection range. When deploying a set of agents, it is essential to study whether all the WANET agents will be reachable before the deployment. The paper proposes to explore it by generating a simulation close to the real world using a framework (FIVE) that allows the easy development and modification of simulations based on Unity and SPADE agents. A fruit orchard with autonomous tractors is presented as a case study. The paper also presents how and why the concept of artifact has been included in the above-mentioned framework as a way to highlight the importance of some devices used in the environment that have to be located in specific places to ensure the full connection of the system. This inclusion is the first step to allow Digital Twins to be modeled with this framework, now allowing a Digital Shadow of those devices.

Thing Artifact-based Design of IoT Ecosystems

This paper sheds light on the complexity of designing Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems where a high number of things reside and thus must collaborate despite their reduced size, restricted connectivity, and constrained storage limitations. To address this complexity, a novel concept referred to as thing artifact is devised abstracting the roles that things play in an IoT ecosystem. The abstraction focuses on 3 crosscutting aspects, namely functionality in terms of what to perform, life cycle in terms of how to behave, and interaction flow in terms of with whom to exchange. Building upon the concept of data artifact commonly used in data-driven business applications design, thing artifacts engage in relations with peers to coordinate their individual behaviors and hence avoid conflicts that could result from the quality of exchanged data. Putting functionality, life cycle, interaction flow, and relation together contributes to abstracting IoT ecosystems design. A system implementing a thing artifact-based IoT ecosystem along with some experiments is presented in the paper as well.

A multi-type artifact framework for cyber–physical, social systems design and development

This paper discusses the design and development of cyber–physical, social systems using a set of guidelines that capture the conceptual and technical characteristics of such systems. These guidelines are packaged into a framework that resorts to the concept of artifact. Because of these characteristics, the framework’s artifacts are specialized into 3 types referred to as data, thing, and social, all connected together through a set of situational relations referred to as work-with-me, work-for-me, back-me, and avoid-me. To mitigate conflicts blue that could arise because of artifacts’ respective time availabilities when they jointly participate in situational relations, policies are put in place defining who does what, when, where, and why. To demonstrate the technical doability of the multi-type artifact framework, a system capturing cyber, physical, and social interactions in a healthcare case-study is developed, deployed, and evaluated.

Assessing team creativity with multi-attribute group decision-making in a knowledge building community: A design-based research

Through a knowledge building reading of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, team creativity was fostered in a primary school class of 37 students. Four instructional iterations were conducted: real problem proposal with scaffolds, theme reading and deep inquiry, script writing and creative drama rehearsal, and theory building. Consensus assessment technology (CAT) was used to quantify 52 conceptual artifacts. To address subjectivity and a significant workload, a system for analyzing team creativity was developed on the basis of a scoring criterion and multi-attribute group decision-making by using two rounds of TOPSIS. The technique proved to be effective following its comparison with social network analysis. In addition, the results suggest that students’ team creativity increased in the knowledge building community.

Subjectivity and social constitution: Contrasting conceptions of institutions, artifacts, and animals.

We systematically compared beliefs about animal (e.g., lion), artifactual (e.g., hammer), and institutional (e.g., police officer) categories, aiming to identify whether people draw different inferences about which categories are subjective and which are socially constituted. We conducted two studies with 270 American children, ages 4 through 10: 140 girls, 129 boys, one not reported; 59% White, 3% Black, 10% Asian, one Native American, 17% multiracial or another race, 11% unreported. We also conducted two studies with 360 American adults recruited from Amazon mechanical Turk. In all four studies we found that children and adults judged institutional categories as more socially constituted than artifactual categories (in all studies) but as less subjective (in three of four studies). Whereas younger and older children's beliefs about subjectivity were similar, younger and older children expressed different beliefs about social constitution. Young children judged none of the category domains as socially constituted; older children differentiated between the three domains. These results support the conceptual independence of subjectivity and social constitution and suggest that concepts of institutions and artifacts differ. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Artifacts of culture in polycode advertising text: Types of quotation

The article is devoted to the problem of using cultural artifacts — material or mental objects created by man, functioning in various areas of the cultural-semantic field- in the structure of a polycode advertising text. The research methodology is based on a structural-semiotic approach and functional analysis. The paper considers various approaches to the definition of the concept of artifact; the typology of cultural artifacts used in advertising is determined. Based on the dichotomy of artistic and non-artistic ways of human exploration of the world, the following types of artifacts are distinguished in the structure of creolized media and advertising discourse: artifacts of spatial art (fine arts, architecture, decorative and applied arts); artifacts of temporary art (literature, folklore and musical); artifacts of spatio-temporal syncretic art (theatrical, choreographic, cinematographic, comics, actually advertising, etc.); extra-artistic artifacts (artifacts of history, fashion, politics, mass media, visual and verbal memes, etc.). We can define the mechanism for including artifacts in the fabric of media and advertising text as quoting texts of a previous culture that can manifest themselves at various levels of depth of the semantic structure of advertising. In this sense, citation is understood as broadly as possible, as the actualization in the text structures of the content elements of past texts or formal ones. The types of artifactual citation are determined by us on the basis of the modality parameter: mono modal citation (citation in the advertising text of the text of the same medial rank); polymodal citation (citation in the text of an advertisement of a text of a different medial rank); auto-citation (quoting texts of previous advertisements in advertising); meta citation (citation in advertising of expressions containing a reflection on the advertisement itself).

The Artifact Problem: A Category and Its Vicissitudes

There is increasing interest in artifacts among philosophers. The leading edge is the metaphysics of artifacts and artifact kinds. However, an important question has been neglected. What is the ontological status of the category ‘artifact’ itself? Dan Sperber (2007) argues against its theoretical integrity for the purposes of naturalistic social sciences. In Section 2, I lay out Sperber’s argument, which is based on the observed continuum between natural objects and artifacts. I also review the implicit support for this continuum argument in the philosophical literature on artifacts. In Section 3, I diagnose the fatal weakness affecting continuum-based arguments about categories. They fail to take into account recent thinking about classification in philosophy of science, which has been forced to accommodate continua in biology. In Section 4, I focus specifically on the species problem in philosophy of biology, and on pluralism about species concepts as a response to it. I then identify an analogous artifact problem, and argue that pluralism about artifact concepts is an appropriate and defensible response here as well. Finally, in Section 5, I show that just as species pluralism leads to skepticism about the species category, so artifact pluralism leads to skepticism about the artifact category. I thus arrive at Sperber’s conclusion by an alternate route that does not run afoul of the weakness affecting continuum-based arguments about categories.

A framework to understand the role of IS artifact in ICT4D

AbstractIn this paper we propose a framework to explain the possibilities of ICT in ICT4D. The PAR (Possibility, Action, Result) framework is based on the theoretical concepts of IS artifacts, affordances, and the capability approach, and is further refined by findings from an eGovernment project in Indonesia aiming to develop a digital platform to facilitate inclusive public debate for the citizens. The framework describes the process by which IS artifacts enable various action possibilities and choices. Furthermore, the framework shows how actors may realize their possibilities and choices, which in turn enhances their functioning. Our analysis also revealed the role of conversion factors, such as personal commitment and digital literacy, that hindered the actors' ability to actualize the possibilities of ICT. We make three main contributions. First, the PAR framework explains the process by which ICT can enhance individual and collective capabilities. Second, the concept of IS artifacts describes the perception of ICT possibilities and choices in the ICT4D context. Third, the process of feedback explains how an outcome of an action can lead to perception of new affordances.

Delivering evidence-based management services: rising to the challenge using design science

ABSTRACT Evidence-based management (EBMgt) concerns making complex managerial decisions by combining the decision maker’s knowledge and experience with scientific knowledge. A major obstacle to this practice is the lack of support. In this paper, we employ design science to develop an ensemble of conceptual, information and IT artefacts that support EBMgt. The approach is instantiated and validated in a case study using a combination of methods, including proof of concept, laboratory experiment, satisfaction survey, and focus groups. The proposed approach turns EBMgt into a repeatable practice, supported by reusable tools, and brings some degree of automation to the process. To our knowledge, EBMgt services have not yet been realised in a concrete manner, and not with concrete empirical results. Therefore, this study provides a first-of-a-kind demonstration and assessment of the viability of EBMgt services.

Is the analysis of the concept of law a(n) (im)modest conceptual analysis?

ABSTRACT This paper aims to inquire whether an analysis of the concept of law is an exercise of analysis in its modest or immodest form. Our inquiry suggests that the Jacksonian distinction between modest and immodest conceptual analysis, so eagerly applied by many legal scholars, is inapplicable to analyzing a specific part of the concept of law. The crux of our argument lies in the relation between the folk theory of law and the content of the developed concept of law. As an artifact concept, the concept of law must depend on the pre-existing content of the folk conception of law (which we term the ‘foundational folk theory’). This part of folk theory determines the collective intentionality necessary to bring an institutional artifact, such as law, into existence. A large part of the argument for this conclusion depends on the acceptance of a realist and functional, post-Searlean theory of artifactual types.

Developing IoT Artifacts in a MAS Platform

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a growing computational paradigm where all kinds of everyday objects are interconnected, forming a vast cyberphysical environment at the edge between the virtual and the real world. Since the emergence of the IoT, Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) technology has been successfully applied in this area, proving itself to be an appropriate paradigm for developing distributed, intelligent systems containing sets of IoT devices. However, this technology still lacks effective mechanisms to integrate the enormous diversity of existing IoT devices systematically. In this context, this paper introduces the concept of the IoT artifact as a new interface abstraction for the development of MAS based on IoT devices. The IoT artifact strictly conforms to the Agents and Artifacts (A&A) meta-model, and it also adopts the programming model of the SPADE multi-agent platform, providing both a consistent theoretical framework and a practical model for real-world applications.

The Things of Others: Ethnographies, Histories, and Other Artefacts

The Things of Others: Ethnographies, Histories, and Other Artefacts

An Evolutionary Textual Environment

This article introduces the notion of evolutionary textual environment as the outcome of a digital experiment. The experiment consisted of transforming a digital archive of Fernando Pessoa’s Book of Disquiet into a changing textual space sustained by role-playing interactions. As conceptual and technical artifact, this living archive expresses an innovative model not only for the literary acts of reading, editing and writing, but also for reimagining the book as a network of reconfigurable and dynamic texts, structures, and actions. The programmed features of the LdoD Archive can be used in multiple activities, including leisure reading, study, analysis, advanced research, and creative writing. Through the integration of computational tools in a simulation space, this collaborative archive provides an open exploration of the procedurality of the digital medium itself. The “unfinished machine” metaphor suggests the open-endedness both of the evolving textual environment and of the computational modeling of literary performativity that sustains the whole experiment.

Designing antifragile social-technical information systems in an era of big data

PurposeTo explore the value and the case for designing antifragile socio-technical information systems (IS) in an era of big data, moving beyond traditional notions of IS design towards systems that can leverage uncertainty for gains.Design/methodology/approachA design science research (DSR) approach was adopted, comprising four stages, including problem identification and solutions definition, conceptual artifact or socio-technical system design, preliminary evaluation, and communication and knowledge capture.FindingsA conceptual socio-technical artifact that identifies antecedents to antifragile IS design. When operationalised, the antecedents may produce the desired antifragile outcome. The antecedents are categorised as value propositions, design decisions and system capabilities.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is conceptual in nature, applied and evaluated in a single big data analytics case study in Facebook-Cambridge Analytica. Future research should empirically validate across a range of real-world big data contexts, beyond the presented case study.Practical implicationsUncertainty generally results in socio-technical system failures, impacting individuals, organisations and communities. Conversely, antifragile IS can respond favourably to the shocks and stressors brought forth by periods of elevated uncertainty.Social implicationsAntifragile IS can drive socio-technical systems to respond favourably to uncertainty and stressors. Typically, these socio-technical systems are large, complex structures, with increased connectivity and the requirement to generate, process, analyse and use large datasets. When these systems fail, it affects individuals, organisations and communities.Originality/valueExisting IS design methodologies and frameworks largely ignore antifragility as a possible designable outcome. Extant research is limited to abstract architectural design, and approaches based on the proposition of principles. This research contributes to knowledge of antifragile IS design, by deriving a conceptual artifact or socio-technical system based on antecedent-outcome relationships that leverage uncertainty towards performance gains.

Development of products and services in small enterprises: proposition of an artifact to discuss creative logics

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to make available an artifact that helps entrepreneurs and managers to recognize the diversity of creative logics centered on resources that are already available to the organization, presenting it as a tool to support the expansion of the product and service portfolio and as an alternative to Research and Development strategies, which are difficult to implement in the context of small businesses.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the precepts of the Action Design Research (ADR) method, researchers and practitioners (teachers and consultants) collaborated in the development of the artifact. Successive versions of the artifact were tested in the field: in classrooms by the teachers and in small companies by the consultants.FindingsIn addition to the artifact itself, which is available on the Internet, the lessons learned from the design process of the artifact were formalized in meta-requirements and meta-designs, in accordance with the precepts of the design theory that served as the foundation of ADR. These meta-specifications facilitate the critical analysis and evolution of the proposed artifact, in addition to the conception and proposition of new artifacts for the same class of problem.Practical implicationsThe dialogical nature of the ADR approach, with the development of the artifact through interactive cycles between design and use, based on the practitioners' experience of using it with the final beneficiaries, resulted in a functional artifact that is simple to use by those interested in discussing product and service innovation with small organizations. The artifact in the form of software is available to all at https://tentypescreation.com.Originality/valueFrom business examples and comparisons with widespread creative tactics, such as copy and invention, eight other creative tactics centered on resources available in the organization are explored by the artifact, providing means for practitioners to discuss alternative ways for managers, entrepreneurs, and future entrepreneurs to face the challenge of product and service innovation in small businesses.