Implementation and evaluation of the sensornet protocol for Contiki

Sensornet Protocol (SP) is a link abstraction layer between the network layer and the link layer for sensor networks. SP was proposed as the core of a future-oriented sensor node architecture that allows flexible and optimized combination between multiple coexisting protocols. This thesis implements the SP sensornet protocol on the Contiki operating system in order to: evaluate the effectiveness of the original SP services; explore further requirements and implementation trade-offs uncovered by the original proposal. We analyze the original SP design and the TinyOS implementation of SP to design the Contiki port. We implement the data sending and receiving part of SP using Contiki processes, and the neighbor management part as a group of global routines. The evaluation consists of a single-hop traffic throughput test and a multihop convergecast test. Both tests are conducted using both simulation and experimentation. We conclude from the evaluation results that SP's link-level abstraction effectively improves modularity in protocol construction without sacrificing performance, and our SP implementation on Contiki lays a good foundation for future protocol innovations in wireless sensor networks

Teleological Essentialism

Placeholder essentialism is the view that there is a causal essence that holds category members together, though we may not know what the essence is. Sometimes the placeholder can be filled in by scientific essences, such as when we acquire scientific knowledge that the atomic weight of gold is 79. We challenge the view that placeholders are elaborated by scientific essences. On our view, if placeholders are elaborated, they are elaborated Aristotelian essences, a telos. Utilizing the same kinds of experiments used by traditional essentialists—involving superficial change (study 1), transformation of insides (study 2), acquired traits (study 3) and inferences about offspring (study 4)—we find support for the view that essences are elaborated by a telos. And we find evidence (study 5) that teleological essences may generate category judgments

Folk teleology drives persistence judgments

Two separate research programs have revealed two different factors that feature in our judgments of whether some entity persists. One program—inspired by Knobe—has found that normative considerations affect persistence judgments. For instance, people are more inclined to view a thing as persisting when the changes it undergoes lead to improvements. The other program—inspired by Kelemen—has found that teleological considerations affect persistence judgments. For instance, people are more inclined to view a thing as persisting when it preserves its purpose. Our goal in this paper is to determine what causes persistence judgments. Across four studies, we pit normative considerations against teleological considerations. And using causal modeling procedures, we find a consistent, robust pattern with teleological and not normative considerations directly causing persistence judgments. Our findings put teleology in the driver’s seat, while at the same time shedding further light on our folk notion of an object

Ex Nihilo (2017-2018)

Table of Contents: Sex is About Power: Dissecting Pornography’s Role in the Sexual Language Game / by Hitaxhe Kupa; The University of Pennsylvania (p. 8-14) -- "Point and Proclaim": Possible Response to the Grounding Problem / by Eli Barrish; The University of Texas at Austin (p. 15-21) -- Choosing Eudaemonic Emotions: Aristotle and the Proto-Stoic Theory of Emotions / by Abdulwausay I. Ansari; The University of Houston (p. 22-29) -- Affirming Neo-Aristotelian Teleology And its Applications in Normative Medical Ethics / by Nathan Wong; The University of Texas at Austin (p. 30-40)Philosoph

The PSN tribe

AbstractThe paper reviews the history, premises, research results and applications of the Procedural Semantic Network (hereafter PSN) formalism and two of its descendants, Taxis and Telos. The primary goal for the PSN project was to develop a knowledge representation formalism which combined gracefully semantic networks and procedural representations. After an initial proposal which set out a framework for the integration of these two types of representations [1], a number of features were investigated, including the treatment of contexts, the declarative representation of slots and procedures and several others. In parallel, attempts were made to apply some of the representation ideas embodied in PSN to the task of developing suitable languages for the early stages of information system design. During these stages, the designer is concerned with understanding the problem at hand and then proceeding with the specification of an initial conceptual design of an information system that meets stated requirements. Taxis and Telos were the result of this effort. Their features are outlined, along with a rationale for the differences between the three formalisms

Adolescents, Graduated Autonomy, and Genetic Testing

Autonomy takes many shapes. The concept of “graduated autonomy” is conceived as comprising several unique features: (1) it is incremental, (2) it is proportional, and (3) it is related to the telos of the life stage during which it occurs. This paper focuses on graduated autonomy in the context of genetic testing during adolescence. Questions can be raised about other life stages as well, and some of these questions will be addressed by discussing a possible fourth characteristic of graduated autonomy, that is, its elasticity. Further scholarship and analysis is needed to refine the concept of graduated autonomy and examine its applications

Before the consummation what? On the role of the semiotic economy of seduction

The cultural practice of flirtation has been multifariously scrutinized in various disciplines including sociology, psychology, psychoanalysis and literary studies. This paper frames the field of flirtation in Bourdieuian terms, while focusing narrowly on the semiotic economy that is defining of this cultural field. Moreover, seduction, as a uniquely varied form of discourse that is responsible for producing the cultural field of flirtation, is posited as the missing link for understanding why flirtation may be a peculiar case of non-habitus, contrary to the received notion of cultural field as set of goaloriented practices and actionable habituses. This argument is pursued by highlighting the endemic traits of ambivalence and constant reversibility of signs or multimodal semiotic constellations in the discourse of seduction, while seeking to demonstrate that seduction, and by implication the cultural field of flirtation, does not necessarily partake of a teleological framework that is geared towards the consummation of sexual desire. This thesis is illustrated by recourse to a scene from the blockbuster ‘Hitch’