Embedded Machine-Learning For Variable-Rate Fertiliser Systems: A Model-Driven Approach To Precision Agriculture

Efficient use of fertilisers, in particular the use of Nitrogen (N), is one of the rate-limiting factors in meeting global food production requirements. While N is a key driver in increasing crop yields, overuse can also lead to negative environmental and health impacts. It has been suggested that Variable-Rate Fertiliser (VRF) techniques may help to reduce excessive N applications. VRF seeks to spatially vary fertiliser input based on estimated crop requirements, however a major challenge in the operational deployment of VRF systems is the automated processing of large amounts of sensor data in real-time. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms have shown promise in their ability to process these large, high-velocity data streams, and to produce accurate predictions. The newly developed Fuzzy Boxes (FB) algorithm has been designed with VRF applications in mind, however no publicly available software implementation currently exists. Therefore, development of a prototype implementation of FB forms a component of this work. This thesis will also employ a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) testing methodology using a potential target device in order to simulate a real-world VRF deployment environment. By using this environment simulation, two existing ML algorithms (Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM)) can be compared against the prototype implementation of FB for applicability to VRF applications. It will be shown that all tested algorithms could potentially be suitable for high-speed VRF when measured on prediction time and various accuracy metrics. All algorithms achieved higher than 84.5% accuracy, with FB20 reaching 87.21%. Prediction times were highly varied; the fastest average predictor was an ANN (16.64μs), while the slowest was FB20(502.77μs). All average prediction times were fast enough to achieve a spatial resolution of 31 mm when operating at 60 m/s, making all tested algorithms fast enough predictors for VRF applications

Including functional and non-technical requirements in a software requirement patterns catalogue

Taking into account the drawbacks presented above for each asset in the PABRE framework, the objectives of this thesis are: 1. Do a systematic review of the existent published works on reuse in Requirements Engineering stage, particularly on the use of patterns to achieve the reuse of requirements during Requirements Engineering. 2. Construction of a complete set of non-technical SRP that can be obtained from the Software Requirement Specifications (SRSs) corresponding to 6 real projects. 3. Study of the Content Management System domain and construction of some examples of functional SRP for this domain from the same 6 SRSs. 4. Check the validity of the current SRP metamodel for its suitability for non-technical and functional SRPs. 5. Validate the structure of SRPs (as it is the base of this thesis) and construct a survey which will be used to know what requirements engineers think about the usability of SRP catalogues in real projects in their different enterprises or organizations and if it will be applicable or not

Arquitectura dirigida por modelos aplicada al desarrollo de metodologías de aprendizaje de idiomas

Hoy en día, cada vez más gente está interesada en el aprendizaje de una segunda -e incluso de una tercera- lengua extranjera. Esto es debido al fenómeno de la globalización, y está siendo facilitado por el uso extensivo de Internet. El proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera está definido por metodologías y -cada vez más- apoyado por la tecnología. El desarrollo de este tipo de aplicaciones es complejo (por la variedad de los entornos de ejecución, y por tener una gran cantidad de contenidos con frecuencia difíciles de validar), por lo que esta tesis propone un enfoque dirigido por modelos para desarrollo de software para dar soporte a la enseñanza de idiomas. El estudio y análisis de diferentes metodologías para el aprendizaje de idiomas ha permitido obtener, mediante un proceso de abstracción, los elementos comunes a todas ellas: En primer lugar (1) un conjunto/jerarquía de conceptos que se enseñan (contenidos), y (2) un conjunto de recursos (medios) para presentar los conceptos. Por otra parte, todas las metodologías definen (3) diversos tipos de ejercicios de aprendizaje (actividades) y (4) una secuencia o conjunto de secuencias que las relacionan (flujo de control/trabajo). Finalmente, definen una serie de (5) plantillas o disposiciones para la visualización de los contenidos y de las actividades (presentación). Esta tesis presenta una solución Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) que permite el desarrollo de aplicaciones para el aprendizaje de idiomas a partir de modelos. Así pues, desde una capa Computational Independent Model (CIM) hasta la capa Implementation Specific Model (ISM), se presentan los meta-modelos y los editores gráficos para los distintos lenguajes específicos de dominio, que permiten modelar todo lo necesario para el desarrollo de casi cualquier metodología de aprendizaje de idiomas. Por otra parte, en esta tesis también se definen las transformaciones necesarias, y el proceso de transformación asociado, para la generación automática del código fuente (en HTML y JavaScript) de aplicaciones de aprendizaje de idiomas. La propuesta ha sido validada a través del modelado y la generación del código fuente de los elementos de funcionalidad más importantes de la metodología Lexiway, así como de varios tipos de actividades de aprendizaje muy utilizados -y de forma muy parecida- en metodologías como Duolingo y Busuu

A Search for Discriminative Linguistic Markers in ICT Practitioner Discourse, for the Ex Ante Identification of Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive innovations have the potential to disrupt markets, and drive them in new directions. A common problem faced by business organizations is identifying such disruptive innovations. From a managerial perspective, there is real value in being able to accurately identify disruptive innovations early in the product life-cycle, as it affords the organization the opportunity to put in place business strategies that leverage this information, to gain maximal competitive advantage. This investigation was undertaken to determine if linguistic markers could be identified in ICT practitioner discourse that could be used to discriminate between traditional business intelligence (BI) - the legacy or incumbent technology, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) BI - a new technology and candidate disruptive innovation. Quantitative content analysis undertaken using the tool Veneficium WordFrequencyCounter, was used to analyze written practitioner discourse identified from within the Industry Newsgroup file of LexisNexis Academic universe. Analysis was undertaken using attribute sets derived deductively from the academic literature, and inductively from the data itself, which provided both manifest and latent meaning of component words. Individual relative word associations with both the traditional BI and SaaS BI corpora were also analyzed. Analysis of the attribute set usage data provided evidence that manifest and latent word meaning remained consistent for the time period investigated in this study (2000 to 2012), and so could support the purpose of this study, and was suggestive of the fact that SaaS BI could be a disruptive technology. The study also identified that there was a significant difference in vendor and industry attribute set usage between the SaaS BI and traditional BI corpora, consistent with the Abernathy-Utterback model. Analysis of individual word associations with the traditional BI and SaaS BI corpora identified a number of word association patterns that could discriminate between traditional BI and SaaS BI that may be transferable to other technologies. A crossover event pattern was also identified (in which the word association pattern switches between the incumbent and new technology), which may be able to provide an indication that a technology innovation is, or is about to become, disruptive. This study contributes a new approach for investigating disruptive innovation, and highlights the potential of using content analysis of practitioner discourse to identify linguistic markers for disruptive innovation. The key contribution of the study is the observation that discriminative linguistic markers can in fact be identified, and that such markers appear to have predictive capabilities. That is, they may allow organizations to identify disruptive innovations ex ante

Languages of games and play: A systematic mapping study

Digital games are a powerful means for creating enticing, beautiful, educational, and often highly addictive interactive experiences that impact the lives of billions of players worldwide. We explore what informs the design and construction of good games to learn how to speed-up game development. In particular, we study to what extent languages, notations, patterns, and tools, can offer experts theoretical foundations, systematic techniques, and practical solutions they need to raise their productivity and improve the quality of games and play. Despite the growing number of publications on this topic there is currently no overview describing the state-of-the-art that relates research areas, goals, and applications. As a result, efforts and successes are often one-off, lessons learned go overlooked, language reuse remains minimal, and opportunities for collaboration and synergy are lost. We present a systematic map that identifies relevant publications and gives an overview of research areas and publication venues. In addition, we categorize research perspectives along common objectives, techniques, and approaches, illustrated by summaries of selected languages. Finally, we distill challenges and opportunities for future research and development

Teams in agile software development: Design principles and examination of human factors

In response to new customer requirements, market dynamics, mergers, and technological innovation, modern software development organizations are adopting agile software development (ASD). Yet, the simple adoption of agile methods such as Scrum or eXtreme programming does not automatically result in a very agile team. While we understand the introduction and adoption of ASD from a methodical perspective, we have yet to explore design principles that guide methodical extensions of ASD, and we need to learn more about the human factors that influence software development teams. This thesis presents four studies. Studies 1 and 2 investigate the methodical extension of ASD by identifying design principles from secondary data. Study 1 extends ASD with processes and practices from user-centered design. Study 2 investigates early activities that precede development activities. The thesis also investigates human factors of agile software development in studies 3 and 4. Study 3 compares teams along their extents of agility in order to identify influential factors using a multicase study design. Study 4 tests the effects of emotional contagion in virtual software development teams using a large dataset from an open source software repository. Thus, this thesis makes two primary contributions. First, it develops design principles for methodical extensions of ASD; second, it contributes to the human factors that influence software development teams. Managers also receive guidance on the improvement of ASD in their organization

Property and the Cloud

Data is a modern form of wealth in the digital world, and massive amounts of data circulate in cloud environments. While this enormously facilitates the sharing of information, both for personal and professional purposes, it also introduces some critical problems concerning the ownership of the information. Data is an intangible good that is stored in large data warehouses, where the hardware architectures and software programs running the cloud services coexist with the data of many users. This context calls for a twofold protection: on one side, the cloud is made up of hardware and software that constitute the business assets of the service provider (property of the cloud); on the other side, there is a definite need to ensure that users retain control over their data (property in the cloud). The law grants protection to both sides under several perspectives, but the result is a complex mix of interwoven regimes, further complicated by the intrinsically international nature of cloud computing that clashes with the typical diversity of national laws. As the business model based on cloud computing grows, public bodies, and in particular the European Union, are striving to find solutions to properly regulate the future economy, either by introducing new laws, or by finding the best ways to apply existing principles

Butler University : A Sesquicentennial History

A history of Butler University, from the founding in 1855 until the sesquicentennial in 2005, written by historian and professor George “Mac” Waller who taught in Butler University’s Department of History from 1954 to 1990.https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/butlerbooks/1014/thumbnail.jp

Automated Validation of State-Based Client-Centric Isolation with TLA ⁺

Clear consistency guarantees on data are paramount for the design and implementation of distributed systems. When implementing distributed applications, developers require approaches to verify the data consistency guarantees of an implementation choice. Crooks et al. define a state-based and client-centric model of database isolation. This paper formalizes this state-based model in, reproduces their examples and shows how to model check runtime traces and algorithms with this formalization. The formalized model in enables semi-automatic model checking for different implementation alternatives for transactional operations and allows checking of conformance to isolation levels. We reproduce examples of the original paper and confirm the isolation guarantees of the combination of the well-known 2-phase locking and 2-phase commit algorithms. Using model checking this formalization can also help finding bugs in incorrect specifications. This improves feasibility of automated checking of isolation guarantees in synthesized synchronization implementations and it provides an environment for experimenting with new designs.</p