Mobile Message Passing using a Scatternet Framework

The Mobile Message Passing Interface is a library which implements MPI functionality on Bluetooth enabled mobile phones. It provides many of the functions available in MPI, including point-to-point and global communication. The main restriction of the library is that it was designed to work over Bluetooth piconets. Piconet based networks provide for a maximum of eight devices connected together simultaneously. This limits the libraries usefulness for parallel computing. A solution to solve this problem is presented that provides the same functionality as the original Mobile MPI library, but implemented over a Bluetooth scatternet. A scatternet may be defined as a number of piconets interconnected by common node(s). An outline of the scatternet design is explained and its major components discussed

ParallelUS: Um Ambiente Paralelo e Distribuído para Aplicações Móveis

O desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias vem impulsionando avanços significativos nas arquiteturas computacionais, refletindo assim, em arquiteturas móveis massivamente heterogêneas e paralelas. O uso efetivo das unidades de processamento em dispositivos móveis ainda é um desafio. Neste trabalho propomos o ParallelUS, uma plataforma paralela e distribuída que, por meio do transbordo de tarefas, possibilita diferentes dispositivos móveis executar cooperativamente um mesmo aplicativo. Avaliamos o ParallelUS em diferentes cenários e nossos resultados mostram que a plataforma proposta fornece de maneira eficiente recursos para implementação e execução de aplicações móveis

Computació paral.lela en iOS per experts en MPI

Cada dia apareixen noves aplicacions relacionades amb el món de la tecnologia. Com és lògic, hi ha molts camps que han estat objectius d'una gran quantitat d'estudis, mentre que hi ha altres que passen més desapercebuts. Dintre d'aquests camps que passen més desapercebuts, hi ha alguns que són força interessants i mereixen ser estudiats més en profunditat. Un camp que pot ser molt important en el futur és el de la computació paral·lela en dispositius iOS, ja que els dispositius mòbils cada cop són més potents i van adquirint noves funcionalitats. És en aquest àmbit en el qual es centra aquest Treball de Fi de Grau. Una de les tècniques aplicades més habitualment per realitzar paral·lelisme és mitjançant MPI. Actualment hi ha una gran quantitat de programadors experts en MPI, mentre que es troben molt pocs estudis de programació paral·lela en dispositius iOS. Aquest projecte té com a objectiu l'anàlisi de l'estat actual de la computació paral·lela i distribuïda en dispositius mòbils iOS. Aquest projecte vol proporcionar una visió general de les característiques d'algunes llibreries primitives de MPI, i de les eines de suport que ens dóna Apple, per tal d'aconseguir l'òptima paral·lelització en la programació de dispositius iOS. Per tant, durant el projecte s'ha desenvolupat una aplicació per dispositius iOS que permet aplicar paral·lelisme. A més d'aquesta aplicació, s'ha explicat detalladament totes les diferències amb una aplicació desenvolupada amb MPI, per facilitar a programadors experts en MPI poder programar amb facilitat i agilitat en l'entorn de les aplicacions per dispositius iOS. Per implementar aquesta aplicació s'ha utilitzat l'entorn de desenvolupament Xcode, el framework Network i la tecnologia de GCD, tot realitzat amb el llenguatge de programació Swift destinat al desenvolupament d'aplicacions iOS.Every day there are new applications related to the world of technology. Obviously, there are many fields that have been the targets of a large number of studies, while others are more unnoticed. Within these fields that go unnoticed, there are some that are quite interesting and deserve to be studied more in depth. A field that can be very important in the future is that of parallel computing in iOS devices, as mobile devices are becoming more powerful and are acquiring new features. It is in this area where this End-of-Degree Project focuses. One of the most commonly applied techniques to perform parallelism is through MPI. There is currently a large number of expert programmers in MPI, while there are very few parallel programming studies on iOS devices. This project aims to analyze the current state of parallel computing and distributed on iOS mobile devices. This project aims to provide an overview of the characteristics of some primitive MPI libraries, and Apple's support tools, in order to achieve the optimal parallelization of iOS device programming. Therefore, during the project an application for iOS devices has been developed that allows parallelism to be applied. In addition to this application, it has been explained in detail all the differences with an application developed with MPI, facilitating programmers experts in MPI to be able to program with facility and agility in the surroundings of the applications for iOS devices. To implement this application, the Xcode development environment, the Network framework and the GCD technology have been used, all done with the Swift programming language for the development of iOS applications

Mapping the unseen: making sense of the subjective image.

It used to be thought that photography, as a kind of automatic mapping, could provide an objective view of the world. Now we are aware of the power of framing and other interventions between what is 'out there' and what is captured in depiction. Perhaps even perception, let alone depiction, shares this subjectivity? The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that different cultures actually see the world in different ways, as evidenced and influenced by concepts in their languages – though this idea has been derided, for example by Pinker. A key difficulty is that the word subjectivity is bandied about without care for its different meanings and without distinguishing the many forms it takes in the graphic image. If into this muddle we introduce the idea of interactivity, still greater confusion easily follows. The chapter brings some order to different kinds and levels of subjectivity by documenting how they are reflected in forms of graphical mapping. In the process, it becomes clear how significant is the change in media technologies from those bound by the conventional rectangles of the page and screen to media which are interactive, pervasive, multimodal, physical and social

Challenges in medical visualization: An interactive approach to explore the effect of 3-D technology on the visualization of pain

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Pain experienced as a result of a disabling medical condition is a frequent problem in the clinical community and can often be present in any individual with this kind of health concern. Such pain is typically characterized by severe implications reflected on both a person‘s personal life, as well as on a country‘s health and economic systems. Research on pain has revealed that patients not only experience several types of pain that could prove to be challenging to address, but also that each individual can interpret the same type, location and severity of this pain in different subjective ways, making the need for more effective pain measurement methods an imperative and troublesome effort. In retrospect, the healthcare field is currently trying to enhance the available medical methods with alternatives that would be more efficient in providing accurate pain assessment. Most efforts revolve around traditional methods of measuring pain characteristics, which typically involve the 2-Dimensional (2-D) representation of the human body, often used to collect information regarding the type and location of pain. However, these 2-D pain drawings can be limited in their ability to efficiently visualize pain characteristics for diagnosis purposes. Nonetheless, patients have been shown to prefer such drawings. This research develops an alternative interactive software solution to help in addressing the aforementioned situation, by employing the capabilities that advancements in 3-Dimension (3-D) technology offer. Subsequently, in the anticipation that limitations of current 2-D pain visualization will be solved, the developed approach facilitates the measurement of pain experiences via a 3-D visualization model of the patient. To ensure that it can effectively perform in real-world medical practice, the 3-D pain drawing is evaluated in this research through real-life case studies that are carried out in designated settings. The research findings have shown that the developed approach can potentially make significant contributions to society, science/technology and healthcare provision, with patients and clinicians suggesting that 3-D technology can be a promising means in the pursuit for more effective pain measurement solutions.Brunel University, Department of Information Systems and Computing (DISC

Discogenic low back pain : lumbar spondylodesis revisited

Neurosurgeon deals with chronic low back pain patients almost daily. Most of these patients still have complaints of low back pain despite many different previous therapies. Surgical treatment is only to be considered in few cases of chronic low back pain sufferers. From this large group of chronic low back pain patients we have tried to select a small group of patients who might benefit fiom spondylodesis. This thesis is about the selection and treatment of this patient group. Their assumed source of pain and the results of surgical treatment will also be discussed. ... Zie: Summary

Mobile Learning using Mixed Reality Games and a Conversational, Instructional and Motivational Paradigm. Design and implementation of technical language learning mobile games for the developing world with special attention to mixed reality games for the realization of a conversational, instructional and motivational paradigm.

Mobile learning has significant potential to be very influential in further and higher education. In this research a new definition for Mobile Educational Mixed Reality Games (MEMRG) is proposed based on a mobile learning environment. A questionnaire and a quantifying scale are utilised to assist the game developers in designing a MEMRG. A ¿Conversational Framework¿ is proposed as an appropriate psycho-pedagogical approach to teaching and learning for MEMRG. This methodology is based on the theme of a ¿conversation¿ between different actors of the learning community with the objective of building the architectural framework for MEMRG. Various elements responsible for instructing and motivating learners in educational games are utilised in an instructional-motivational model. User interface design for the games incorporates an efficient navigation system that uses contextual information, and allows the players to move seamlessly between real and virtual worlds. The implementation of MEMRG using the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) platform iii is presented. The hardware and software specification for the MEMRG implementation and deployment are also discussed. MEMRG has produced improvements in the different cognitive processes of the learner, and also produced a deeper level of learning through enculturation, externalising ideas, and socialising. Learners¿ enjoyment, involvement, motivation, autonomy and metacognition skills have improved. This research will assist developers and teachers to gain an insight into learning paradigms which utilise mobile game environments that are formed by mixing real and virtual spaces, and provide them with a vision for effectively incorporating these games into formal and informal classroom sessions

Building The Hive: Corporate Personality Testing, Self-Development, And Humanistic Management In Postwar America, 1945-2000

This dissertation explores the creation, distribution, and use of five personality tests found extensively in corporate America from the mid-1940s to the end of the 20th century. The management techniques in which these tests—the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, California Psychological Inventory, Thematic Apperception Test, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Stanford Shyness Survey—were embedded helped create a corporate environment that seemed at once more considerate of individual differences in personality and behavior and yet somehow also more constraining in the ways people were encouraged to live and work both inside and outside the office. In light of this tension, the problem my dissertation seeks to answer is: how and why did many come to see self-discovery and self-actualization as best achieved through self-management, self-discipline, and, in many cases, the narrowing of the possibilities of the self? This dissertation argues that the use of personality tests and self-assessments—alongside the rise of both humanistic psychology and new forms of neoliberal capitalism—carried with it a very particular rhetoric of personal freedom and individual liberation, one that had in fact been carefully crafted by psychologists and corporate managers in order to predict and control the behavior of the groups under their care. On top of this, self-assessments anchored a sociotechnical system that looked as if it illuminated unique parts of the individual, but which was in fact made up of routinized techniques for creating more efficient, productive, and perhaps more importantly, more profitable workers. By following these five tests from conception to development to their eventual use in corporate management, the power and influence of overlapping networks of researchers, universities, funding sources, publishers, and companies are seen in greater relief, and the outsized influence of Silicon Valley on postwar social scientific knowledge and management practice is made evident

Mapping the unseen: making sense of the subjective image.

It used to be thought that photography, as a kind of automatic mapping, could provide an objective view of the world. Now we are aware of the power of framing and other interventions between what is 'out there' and what is captured in depiction. Perhaps even perception, let alone depiction, shares this subjectivity? The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that different cultures actually see the world in different ways, as evidenced and influenced by concepts in their languages – though this idea has been derided, for example by Pinker. A key difficulty is that the word subjectivity is bandied about without care for its different meanings and without distinguishing the many forms it takes in the graphic image. If into this muddle we introduce the idea of interactivity, still greater confusion easily follows. The chapter brings some order to different kinds and levels of subjectivity by documenting how they are reflected in forms of graphical mapping. In the process, it becomes clear how significant is the change in media technologies from those bound by the conventional rectangles of the page and screen to media which are interactive, pervasive, multimodal, physical and social