Learning interactions with artificial intelligences: a fallibilist perspective

After many false starts, the potential advantages of artificial intelligence for education are starting to appear. It remains in question, though, whether current theoretical frameworks are adequate for understanding processes of learning with artificial intelligence. This paper re-examines a recent study of children telling stories in collaboration with a virtual conversational agent, in which it was found that children who played with the agent told stories with more linguistically advanced characteristics than the stories of children who played with a friend. Conventional explanations in terms of 'scaffolding' or that portray the agent as a 'tool' seem to have limited predictive potential. It is argued that a fallibilist philosophy offers the potential of new insights and testable hypotheses in relation to such learning interactions with virtual peers

Energy-Efficient Buildings: Using Whole Building Design to Reduce Energy Consumption in Homes and Offices

Key facts: -Virtually every part of a building's structure -- from its placement and design to the appliances it contains -- affects its energy consumption. Climate-responsive architecture and whole building design consider the building's surroundings and local climate in order to construct energy-efficient buildings. - The heating, cooling, and hot water costs in an energy-efficient home are 30 to 40 percent lower than in conventional new homes. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certifies buildings as Energy Star compliant if they are 30 percent more efficient than required by the national Model Energy Code from 1993, or 15 percent more efficient than the state's energy code, whichever is more rigorous. - Over 2,300 home builders have joined the EPA's Energy Star Buildings program and have built at least one Energy Star certified building. Energy-efficient buildings have been built in all 50 states

Notes on Canadian Units and Formations Engaged: Battles of the Somme, March-April 1918

Although the Canadian Corps did not participate directly in the German Spring Offensives that began on 21 March 1918, detached Canadian cavalry, artillery, and motor machine gun units serving with British divisions played important roles at various points in the battles. In one of the better known instances, Canadian cavalry were instrumental in delaying a German drive on 30 March south of Amiens at Moreuil Wood where, in one of the most dramatic cavalry actions of the war, Lieutenant Gordon Flowerdew led a mounted charge with sabres drawn. For that action, he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Le Corps canadien n’a pas participé directement aux batailles durant l’offensive du printemps des Allemands qui a commencé le 21 mars 1918, mais des unités de cavalerie, d’artillerie et de mitrailleuses du pays ayant servi au sein de divisions britanniques ont joué un rôle important à différents moments. Dans l’un de ces épisodes les mieux connus, la cavalerie canadienne a joué un rôle déterminant en retardant l’avance des Allemands, le 30 mars, au sud d’Amiens, au bois de Moreuil. Dans une des charges de cavalerie les plus mémorables de la Première Guerre mondiale, le lieutenant Gordon Flowerdew a dirigé ses hommes, armés d’épées déployées. Pour cet exploit, la Croix de Victoria lui a été attribuée à titre posthume

RFID-based indoor positioning of autonomous aid for disable people

Nowadays, global positioning system (GPS) is widely used in localization area because it’s very capable and reliable. However, in indoor positioning, GPS capabilities are very limited since the satellite signals are typically strongly attenuated by walls and ceiling. Thus, this project introduced the concept which presents a self-localization of a mobile robot by fusing radio frequency identification (RFID) system and wireless communication using XBee module to be used in indoor environment. Two Xbee devices will be used to transfer data from the remote control unit to mobile robot. Aims of this project are to create a mobile robot that reacts to the remote control to go to the desired position as command. To meet the desired aim of this project, practical and compact design technique are emphasized in order to create a mobile robot and the remote control. Sixteen RFID cards are arranged in a fixed pattern on the floor. A unique code of each RFID card provides the position data to the mobile robot. An RFID reader act as antenna will be installed to read the card data on the below of the mobile robot. The user can make it come by easily pressing the remote control by informing the user location. Keywords: RFID, RFID reader, RFID tag, indoor location identification, mobile robot, remote control, navigation, wireless communication

BRST Anomaly and Superspace Constraints of the Pure Spinor Heterotic String in a Curved Background

The pure spinor heterotic string in a generic super Yang-Mills and supergravity background is onsidered. We determine the one-loop BRST anomaly at the cohomological level. We prove that it can be absorbed by consistent corrections of the classical constraints due to Berkovits and Howe, in agreement with the Green-Schwarz cancelation mechanism

First Report of the Alfalfa Blotch Leafminer (Diptera: Agromyzidae), and Selected Parasites (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA

Alfalfa blotch leafminer, Agromyza frontella, has been a serious pest of alfalfa, Medicago sativa, in the northeastern U.S. and in eastern Ontario, Canada. Until recently, the western edge of the A. frontella distribution in the U.S. was limited to eastern Ohio. We document for the first time, the occurrence of A. frontella in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Alfalfa stems damaged by A. frontella, based on adult feeding punctures, obvious blotched leafmining or the presence of larvae, were first found in 3 northern Minnesota coun­ties during October, 1994. Infested counties included Lake of the Woods, Cook and Lake, all bordering western Ontario, Canada. In 1995, A. frontella was again found in Cook and Lake counties, where 99-100% of the stems, and 18-35% of the trifoliates/stem, contained larvae or exhibited obvious feeding damage. In 1996, following a more expanded survey, a total of 11 and 5 counties, in Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively, showed some level of A. frontella feeding damage (stem samples ranged from \u3c5 to 100% infested). Based on additional counties surveyed 11 October, 1996, where A. frontella was not found, we now have a reasonable estimate of the southern edge of the distribution in Minnesota and Wisconsin. A total of 2 and 6 A. frontella adults were identified from sweep-net samples taken from fields with obvious feeding damage during 1995 (Lake Co.) and 1996 (Cook Co,), respectively. Three eulophid (Hymenoptera) parasites were reared from A. frontella-infested alfalfa stems collected during October, 1994 in Cook Co., Minn., including: Diglyphus begini, D. pulchripes, and Diglyphus sp., prob. isaea, all of which are new records. Our hypothesis is that A. frontella moved into Minnesota from Ontario Canada, via alfalfa hay purchased by northern Minnesota growers

Influence of the intermediate material on the singular stress field in tri-material junctions

According to the mathematical formalism of the eigenfunction expansion method, the problem of stress-singularities arising from multi-material junctions is addressed. The wedges are composed of isotropic homogeneous materials and are in a condition of plane stress or strain. The order of the stress-singularity is provided for tri-material junctions, paying special attention to the role played by Mode-I and Mode-II deformation. The effect of cracks inside either the softer or the stiffer material is also investigated. Numerical results can be profitably used for establishing optimum material configurations