Kevin Davies

Exploring the Relationship Between Lexical Behavior and Concept Formation in Design Conversations

Designers bring individual knowledge and perspectives to the team. The hypothesis tested in this research is that semantic and grammatical structures (the language through which concepts are expressed) enable designers to bridge relations among ideas stored in each designer’s mind and from this to generate design concepts. This paper describes a linguistic and a computational method to examine the grammatical and semantic structure of design conversations and the linguistic processes by which individuals bridge their knowledge to the group’s ongoing knowledge accumulation. To test the hypothesis, we conducted a linguistic (systemic functional linguistics) and computational linguistic (lexical chain analysis) analysis of a design team conversation The computational analysis revealed hypernym relations as the primary lexico-syntactic pattern by which designers offer, interrelate and develop concepts. The linguistic analysis highlighted the grammatical linguistic features that actively contribute to the generation of design content by teams. These analyses point to the prospect of a functional correspondence between language use and a team’s ability to construct knowledge for design. This interrelation has implications both for computational systems that assess design teams and design teamwork education.Copyright

Long-term perspective on the relationship between phytoplankton and nutrient concentrations in a southeastern Australian estuary.

Sixteen years (1997-2013) of physicochemical, nutrient and phytoplankton biomass (Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a)) data and a decade (2003-2013) of phytoplankton composition and abundance data were analyzed to assess how the algal community in a temperate southeastern Australian estuary has responded to decreased chronic point source nitrogen loading following effluent treatment upgrade works in 2003. Nitrogen concentrations were significantly lower (P<0.05) following enhanced effluent treatment and Chl-a levels decreased (P<0.05) during the warmer months. Temperature and nutrient concentrations significantly influenced temporal changes of Chl-a (explaining 55% of variability), while salinity, temperature, pH and nutrient concentrations influenced phytoplankton abundance and composition (25% explained). Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) dynamics differed between sites likely influenced by physical attributes of the estuary. This study demonstrates that enhanced effluent treatment can significantly decrease chronic point source nitrogen loading and that Chl-a concentrations can be lowered during the warmer months when the risk of blooms and HABs is greatest.

Terrestrial total water storage dynamics of Australia's recent dry and wet events

Australia recently experienced a long-term continental drought (“big dry”, 2001-2009) followed by an anomalous wet two-year period (“big wet”, 2010-2011). Despite the significance of the two extreme events, continental-wide information regarding the effects of the high and low precipitation conditions on the hydrological components, stress and recovery is not available. In this paper, we use terrestrial total water storage changes (ATWS) from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spanning from 2002 to 2013, where ATWS represents the main source of water available for human consumption, agriculture and natural ecosystems. We rely on a combination of temporal trend analysis and spatial statistics methods in order to evaluate the terrestrial total water storage (TWS) dynamics and the relationship between TWS and rainfall during the “big dry” and “big wet” events. Here we report the occurrence of hydrological cycle intensification during the study period in Australia which exhibited strong spatial variations: the wet areas (the northern and northeast regions) got wetter while the dry areas (the west and interior of the continent) became drier. By contrast, in southeastern Australia TWS changes over time showed sudden extreme responses to both events. Our results constitute a step beyond quantifying droughts/anomalous wet years that rely solely on precipitation data. This work demonstrates the ability of TWS observations as a significant indicator of hydrological system performance during hydroclimatic events and also an important tool for understanding continental-wide and regional spatial and temporal patterns of water availability.