Achieving Self-Sustainability in Interactive Graphical Programming Systems

Programming is fraught with accidental complexity. Software, including tools used for programming, is inflexible and hard to adapt to one's specific problem context. Programming tools do not support Notational Freedom, so programmers must waste cognitive effort expressing ideas in suboptimal notations. They must also work around problems caused by a reliance on plain text representations instead of Explicit Structure. The idea of a Self-Sustainable programming system, open to adaptation by its users, promises a way out of these accidental complexities. However, the principles underlying such a property are poorly documented, as are methods for practically achieving it in harmony with Notational Freedom and Explicit Structure. We trace the causes of this difficulty and use them to inform our construction of a prototype self-sustainable system. By carefully reflecting on the steps involved in our specific case, we provide insight into how self-sustainability can be achieved in general, and thus how a motivated programmer can escape the aforementioned sources of accidental complexity

An investigation of the characteristics and performance of a direct injection crop sprayer

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX170680 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Evidence-based intervention for preschool children with primary speech and language impairments: Child Talk - an exploratory mixed-methods study

BackgroundThe Child Talk study aimed to develop an evidence-based framework to support the decision-making of speech and language therapists (SLTs) as they design and plan interventions appropriate to the needs of individual children with primary speech and language impairments and their families. The need for early identification and effective intervention for these children continues to be a government policy priority because of the link between children’s early speech and language skills and their broader well-being and outcomes in later life. The first phase of Child Talk sought to map and describe current SLT practice for these children; identify and summarise the existing research evidence relating to practice; and investigate the perspectives of parents, early years practitioners, preschool children and ‘underserved’ communities on speech and language therapy. The second phase of Child Talk focused on the development of a toolkit – assessment tools, outcome measures and a data set – to support future service and economic evaluations of the framework.MethodsChild Talk adopted a mixed-methods design. Quantitative methods included surveys and investigated the prevalence and patterns of intervention usage; qualitative data collection methods included focus groups, interviews and reflection to investigate participants’ perspectives and understandings of interventions. Data analysis methods included descriptive and inferential statistics, thematic and content analysis and framework analysis. Participants were recruited nationally through six NHS sites, professional bodies, parent groups and advertising. Participants included SLTs (n = 677), parents (n = 84), preschool children (n = 24), early years practitioners (n = 31) and ‘underserved’ communities (n = 52).Key findingsSpeech and language therapy interventions were characterised in terms of nine themes, viewed as comprehensive and inclusive by practitioners. Relevant assessments, interventions and outcome domains were identified for the nine themes. Areas of tacit knowledge and underspecified processes contributed to variability in the detail of the framework. Systematic reviews identified 58 relevant and robust studies (from 55,271 papers retrieved from the initial literature search). The number of studies relevant to each theme varied from 1 to 33. Observational data on preschool children’s perspectives on speech and language therapy interventions revealed the dynamic nature of their interaction with different activities and people within therapy sessions. Parents’ experiences of speech and language therapy were generally positive although some reported that the rationale for therapy was not always clear. Parental perspectives in underserved communities suggested that, although parents were confident about how to support children’s language development, they were less informed about the nature of language impairments and the function of speech and language therapy. The availability of information regarding resources directed towards speech and language therapy services was poor. In particular, services lacked both a culture of collecting outcome data routinely and measures of professional input and costs associated with their activities.ConclusionA descriptive framework of SLT practice has been developed to support the discussions between therapists and families when making decisions regarding the selection of interventions and outcome measures. Further research is needed to address gaps in the intervention framework and evaluate its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in improving outcomes for preschool children with primary speech and language impairments.Study registrationThis study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42013006369

Change management for finance and accounting professionals

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/2706/thumbnail.jp

The Usefulness of Funds Flow Statements: An Empirical Study of Hong Kong Banks' Loan Officers' Use of Published Company Accounts

Funds flow statements were part of the published accounts of most companies in most jurisdictions in the last two decades. In the USA and a few other countries, they have been replaced by cash flow statements. Before other countries, including the UK, follow the US lead, it is important to gather and assess evidence on the usefulness of the funds statement to see if the arguments for its replacement by the cash flow statement are well founded. In essence, the usefulness of the funds flow statement is a matter of its ability to enable its readers to make better, or possibly faster, judgments about a firm's changes in financial position than they would make in the absence of that statement. The research reported in this thesis addresses the usefulness of the funds statement to a group of users especially concerned with changes in the financial position of companies with whom members of the group do business. Banks employ loan officers and credit analysts to vet applications for new loans, and this group of people is therefore likely to appreciate information useful to them in assessing the ability of applicants to meet their actual and prospective financial obligations. Such a group based in Hong Kong would be exposed to accounts prepared under all kinds of different national formats and should not be unduly fixated on the format of any one nation. Such assumptions were the basis of the research. A factorial ANOVA research design was used with 116 Hong Kong bank loan officers in 15 sets to see if the provision of funds flow statements and cash flow statements in a variety of formats improved their speed or accuracy in answering simple calculation-based or judgment-based questions concerning the accounts. Order effects were controlled by shuffling question order. Accounts difficulty effects were controlled by providing the accounts in two matched sets of equivalent processing difficulty. Subject selection effects were controlled through random assignments of subjects to accounts sets. It was found that funds statements marginally improved accuracy but greatly increased processing time. Cash flow statements performed no better than funds flow statements in either respect. An information load explanation is discussed for these results

A report on the commercial and educational applications of expert systems

Expert, or intelligent knowledge-based, systems have emerged as the main practical application of Artificial Intelligence research. This thesis reports on their history, development and increasing commercial application. An analysis of the tasks and domains of 785 systems is reported which indicated a level of task specificity. The technology is suggestive of significant educational relevance as it is closely linked with concepts of expertise, intelligence, knowledge and learning. These basic educational concepts are discussed. The thesis reports on a survey of the use of the NCC Expert System Starter Pack in Further and Higher Education. The relationship between other computer-based learning systems and expert systems are discussed and it is argued that the development of intelligent tutoring systems is a more complex operation than the educational application of expert systems. A wide spectrum of potential educational applications is indicated. It is suggested that placing pupils in the position of knowledge engineers provides an exciting curriculum application. It is further argued that the use of expert systems in a commercial training role promises to be a major future development. Other educational applications are considered and the wider social implications associated with the use of expert systems are summarised

Introducing the goal-based information framework (GbIF): Documentation and evaluation of information flow in the low maturity organisation

Purpose of the Research: To introduce and evaluate a new method, the Goal-based Information Framework (GbIF), to model and contextualise information flow in a multi-channel, multi-source, environment. This research presents a derivative of the goal-question-metric (GQM) methodology for use in information retrieval and exchange scenarios, paying particular attention to information needs of low maturity organisations. Methodology/Approach: Following a review of the GQM literature, this iterative case-based research first presents a reference model based on experiences at an e- commerce business. The reference model is used as a baseline in two further case studies. The primary case study looks at multi-channel, multi-source, information retrieval challenges within the support department of a European software company. The second case study presents the GbIF in an information exchange context within a software integration project. A comparative study of the reference model and case- based iterations is presented in the conclusion. Findings: The research indicates that the GbIF has value in documenting and evaluating organisational information flow. For information retrieval, the goal-based information framework is a descriptive and evaluative construct, rather than a prescriptive process model. That is, the framework is useful for describing and evaluating an organisation’s static information needs, not in guiding it through an information-retrieval process. For information retrieval needs, the value to the organisation is the resulting documented information flow from goal to information source. However, the complexity and expansiveness of the GbIF may make maintenance (adding and documenting new/additional needs) challenging for the low maturity organisation. This factor could make the GbIF more relevant for one-off or static information needs. The research also presents the theoretical application of the GbIF in information exchange scenarios. Research limitations: The case-based findings could be specific to the observed organisations and could only be valid under similar conditions. Future field and scenario based testing of the framework is required to further understand its strengths and limitations. A complete specification of the framework will need to be authored prior to wide adoption. Practical implications: Much of the previous work on goal-based methodologies has been confined to software measurement or business strategy contexts in larger organisations with well-established information processes. This research expands on a well-documented heritage to present an entirely new method of modelling and documenting information flow in a much wider context. The research also specifically identifies and investigates the challenges of using goal-based methodologies in a low maturity environment

First CLIPS Conference Proceedings, volume 2

The topics of volume 2 of First CLIPS Conference are associated with following applications: quality control; intelligent data bases and networks; Space Station Freedom; Space Shuttle and satellite; user interface; artificial neural systems and fuzzy logic; parallel and distributed processing; enchancements to CLIPS; aerospace; simulation and defense; advisory systems and tutors; and intelligent control