Collaborative Home Network Troubleshooting

International audienceThe web browser has emerged as a promising vantage point for measuring the internet edge. Browsers allows for platform-independent measurements on a large variety of platforms such as laptops, smartphones and tablets and they make the usage of measurement utilities easier as web applications do not require installation. In the past browsers' capabilities for measurements were limited but recent technologies such as WebRTC offer promising new possibilities. In this thesis , first, various web technologies are tested for their feasibility for delay measurements to targets such as the home router, Internet servers and other devices in the home network. Second, the most suitable technologies with the lowest overheads are used to create a prototype of a web based measurement tool which utilizes collaboration between end user devices in the home and lets them perform delay measurements together. After performing a measurement, the utility evaluates the quality of the wireless connection to the home router and gives the user feedback about the user's de-vices' Internet connectivity

Recipes for replication:Applying open science principles to research software development and data collection with cognitive tasks

During the past decade, science witnessed a replication crisis where many findings of published research could not be reproduced by other researchers. Attempts to address this "replication crisis" have identified several avenues for improvement, such as making science more open. This allows for more transparency in the scientific workflow, thus reducing a researcher's degrees of freedom and enabling researchers to check each other's work more extensively. Open science is a multifaceted concept, but in practice, there seems to be a strong focus on pre-registration of research designs, open data, and open access publications. However, between the research design and data/publication, there is the phase of data collection. So far, this phase has received relatively little attention even though it is an essential part of the scientific workflow. Hence, this dissertation focuses on open data collection in the behavioral domain, with an emphasis on cognitive tasks. In modern behavioral science, cognitive task procedures are often automated by software running on a computer. Hence, the focus is on research software development and data collection with cognitive tasks, which are evaluated from the perspective of five schools of thought on open science: the democratic, infrastructure, pragmatic, measurement, and public school. I discuss how applying open science principles to research software development and behavioral data collection with cognitive tasks may address the replication crisis and may improve the quality of science in general

User evaluation of the performance of information systems

Information technologies (IT) are considered the primary survival factor for many organizations and the most critical success factor in businesses today. To justify the necessary investment in IT, user evaluation of information systems\u27 performance in organizations is a key consideration. This research investigated a comprehensive and convenient means for end users to assess this performance. Among the existing theories and models on the evaluation of information system performance based on intrinsic technological properties, the Web of System Performance (WOSP) model provides the most comprehensive basis for information system evaluation, and therefore merited further investigation. The research question was how well the eight WOSP performance criteria, namely functionality, usability, flexibility, reliability, security, extendibility, connectivity, and privacy, applied in the context of an individual evaluating one or more information systems for use by an organization. For this, it was important to show that, while these performance criteria were abstract concepts, they can be established and identified clearly, in a manner that is valid in the sense of the meaning and that users would consider important. Illustrative statements for each of the eight criteria were therefore obtained, which users were asked to evaluate. Next, it was necessary to show that users prefer the choice of the eight WOSP criteria to the current dominant instrument for evaluation when evaluating software. This was done using a preference questionnaire where subjects rated both the WOSP model and an alternative means of evaluation along various dimensions, the results being compared by statistical analysis. Finally, it was necessary to show that users rate at least three of the WOSP criteria as being important for evaluating information systems. For this, conjoint analysis was used. A browser was selected as the experimental software for this research. The results showed that users found illustrative statements clear, valid and important for the evaluation of browsers. They also preferred using the WOSP model for the evaluation of browsers over TAM, the current dominant model. Finally, while users attached different levels of importance to the various performance criteria for the selection of browsers, five of the criteria were important to a significant degree

Genetic bases of plant performance in different environmental scenarios using natural variation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant performance is the result of many individual processes which are influenced by environmental factors. Flowering time and the production of secondary metabolites such as anthocyanins affect plant performance. These specific and other related traits were quantified on a new recombinant inbred line population of Arabidopsis thaliana derived from a cross between Ler (Poland) and Eri-1 (Sweden). Altogether, 110 recombinant inbred lines were grown under two contrasting environmental scenarios: i) high light intensity and low temperature (HL4 for High Light 4°C) and ii) commonly used light intensity and temperature when growing Arabidopsis thaliana in growth chambers. This allowed us to detect QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci). In addition, Eri-1 accession was sequenced to obtain polymorphisms between the parental accessions. Mapped QTL indicated that Ler/Eri-1 variation in flowering time and/or anthocyanin accumulation is mainly caused by three interacting QTL. One of these QTL is located on chromosome III and is involved in flowering time in both tested conditions. Selected lines were phenotyped for validation and fine mapping of this QTL, which lead to the identification of two closely linked additive QTL. Candidate genes are proposed. Other QTL is located on chromosome V and is involved in both flowering time and anthocyanin accumulation under HL4 conditions. The validation and fine mapping lead to the identification of the gene HUA2, a pre-mRNA processing factor, as being responsible for flowering time variation observed for this QTL. HUA2 has previously been shown to positively regulate a MADS box gene FLC, which is involved in the regulation of flowering time. In addition, expression analyses strongly suggest that HUA2 is also responsible for the variation of anthocyanin accumulation. Finally, in accordance with epistatic interactions and sequence variation between the parental accessions, we propose a model that explains how HUA2 could be involved in the regulation of late anthocyanin biosynthesis genes via the MYB-bHLH-WD40 transcriptional activation complex in HL4 conditions. Sequencing accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana has become more accessible, facilitating the identification of candidate genes for detected QTL, as could be shown in this study. This project reveals a link between flowering time and secondary metabolism, highlighting the power of using natural variation to dissect the genetic architecture of responses of metabolic pathways to environmental scenarios

Investigating the performance of transport infrastructure using real-time data and a scalable multi-modal agent based model

The idea that including more information in more dynamic and iterative ways is central to the promise of the big data paradigm. The hope is that via new data sources, such as remote sensors and mobile phones, the reliance on heavily simplified generalised functions for model inputs will be erased. This trade between idealised and actual empirical data will be matched with dynamic models which consider complexity at a fundamental level, inherently mirroring the systems they are attempting to replicate. Cloud computing brings the possibility of doing all of this, in less time than the simplified macro models of the past, thus enabling better answers and at the time of critical decision making junctures. This research was task driven - the question of high speed rail versus aviation led to an investigation into the simplifications and assumptions that back up many of the commonly held beliefs on the sustainability of different modes of transport. The literature ultimately highlighted the need for context specific information; actual load factors, actual journey times considering traffic/engineering works and so on. Thus, rather than being explicitly an exercise in answering a specific question, a specific question was used to drive the development of a tool which may hold promise for answering a range of transportation related questions. The original contributions of this work are, firstly the use of real-time data sources to quantify temporally and spatially dynamic network performance metrics (eg. journey times on different transport models) and secondly to organise these data sources in a framework which can handle the volume and type of the data and organise the data in a way so that it is useful for the dynamic agent based modelling of future scenarios.EPSRC I Case Studentship with Ove Arup & Partner