Calico: a multi-programming-language, multi-context framework designed for computer science education

The Calico project is a multi-language, multi-context programming framework and learning environment for computing education. This environment is designed to support several interoperable programming languages (including Python, Scheme, and a visual programming language), a variety of pedagogical contexts (including scientific visualization, robotics, and art), and an assortment of physical devices (including different educational robotics platforms and a variety of physical sensors). In addition, the environment is designed to support collaboration and modern, interactive learning. In this paper we describe the Calico project, its design and goals, our prototype system, and its current use

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research

The Missouri Miner, November 14, 1958

https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/missouri_miner/2604/thumbnail.jp

SiMAMT: A Framework for Strategy-Based Multi-Agent Multi-Team Systems

Multi-agent multi-team systems are commonly seen in environments where hierarchical layers of goals are at play. For example, theater-wide combat scenarios where multiple levels of command and control are required for proper execution of goals from the general to the foot soldier. Similar structures can be seen in game environments, where agents work together as teams to compete with other teams. The different agents within the same team must, while maintaining their own ‘personality’, work together and coordinate with each other to achieve a common team goal. This research develops strategy-based multi-agent multi-team systems, where strategy is framed as an instrument at the team level to coordinate the multiple agents of a team in a cohesive way. A formal specification of strategy and strategy-based multi-agent multi-team systems is provided. A framework is developed called SiMAMT (strategy- based multi-agent multi-team systems). The different components of the framework, including strategy simulation, strategy inference, strategy evaluation, and strategy selection are described. A graph-matching approximation algorithm is also developed to support effective and efficient strategy inference. Examples and experimental results are given throughout to illustrate the proposed framework, including each of its composite elements, and its overall efficacy. This research make several contributions to the field of multi-agent multi-team systems: a specification for strategy and strategy-based systems, and a framework for implementing them in real-world, interactive-time scenarios; a robust simulation space for such complex and intricate interaction; an approximation algorithm that allows for strategy inference within these systems in interactive-time; experimental results that verify the various sub-elements along with a full-scale integration experiment showing the efficacy of the proposed framework

Central Florida Future, Vol. 09 No. 08, October 15, 1976

Cooperation pledged: Off-campus bookstore gets text list agreement (with photo of Beryl Wagner); William E. Colby [to speak at FTU] (photo); Senate resolution needs clarification; Meets dignitaries: Student takes special tour of India (with photo); Senate race down; straw poll to Ford; Voting behavior surveyed by SG [Student Government]; [Future CAMPUS] Instructors given priority: Double standard exists in parking facilities (with photo); FTU Economists: Nation well on the way to economic recovery (with photo of Dr. Raffa and Dr. Budina); Frequent text revisions hit students in wallet; Assistant VC director pushes involvement (with photo of Pat Hightower); [Future SIGHTS and SOUNDS] Satirical Madwoman of Chaillot opens University Theatre\u27s season (with photo); Chapin, Hall perform concert for charity (with photo); Education complex to aid crowded classes j offices; Student receives Army ROTC aid.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/centralfloridafuture/1271/thumbnail.jp

Analysis of the digital gender gap of vulnerable populations and at risk of social exclusión

[SPA] Esta tesis doctoral se presenta bajo la modalidad de compendio de publicaciones. Muchas han sido las lecciones aprendidas por cada uno de nosotros durante la pandemia (COVID-19). En efecto, la enfermedad, el aislamiento, la distancia, la crisis económica, y el miedo nos han enseñado a actuar de manera diferente. A nivel general, esta pandemia ha puesto en evidencia dos elementos de interés común muy relacionados entre ellos. El primero, es la importancia de la tecnología en este mundo que camina hacia la digitalización, y el segundo es la importancia de apoyarse y de crear una alianza contra las desigualdades, porque los que más sufren en situaciones de crisis son los más vulnerables. Hoy en día, las Tecnologías de la Información y de la Comunicación (TICs), representan un elemento imprescindible en la vida personal y profesional de cada uno, afectando a la educación, al trabajo, a la tramitación de papeleo, hasta la compra e incluso el transporte, entre otros. Esta realidad se ha evidenciado en la crisis sanitaria dónde casi todo el mundo ha tenido que pasar a otra forma de trabajar y de enseñar, que requieren disponer y saber usar la tecnología. No obstante, esta crisis ha mostrado también que los que más dificultades han tenido y menos han podido acceder a estas ventajas de las TICs, han sido las poblaciones vulnerables, que se quedaron excluidas de muchas operaciones sencillas, que cualquier ciudadano del mundo tendría que saber hacer. Entre ellas, se sitúan las mujeres, las personas mayores, los ciudadanos del medio rural, las personas con renta baja, los desempleados y las personas con niveles de estudios bajos. En esta tesis, se desea abarcar la amenaza que representan los diferentes tipos de brechas y los factores que les afectan, con un enfoque especifico hacia la mujer, ya que no se puede ignorar el factor de género cuando la mitad del planeta tiene nombre de mujer, y es lo que representa el objetivo principal del trabajo de investigación. Para ello, se ha optado por la utilización de regresiones simple y múltiples usando los softwares de Stata, SPSS, NVivo, Matlab y Octave, que han permitido organizar el estudio en seis capítulos. En el primer capítulo, se da una visión general dónde se abordan los avances de género logrados y los que quedan por lograr, entre ellos la brecha digital de género, que se mide en función del acceso, del uso, del disfrute de las TICs, así como por el acceso a la educación y la formación digital, y la participación en el mercado laboral. En el segundo, se presenta un trabajo sobre la relación entre la brecha digital de género y el logro de los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible, que se especifica más en detalle en el siguiente capítulo y se adapta al mundo rural. En el cuarto capítulo, se intenta mostrar la correlación que existe entre la participación en el sector agrario, especialmente en la rama de la agricultura, y las variables de educación y de empleo, ofreciendo una comparativa entre España y tres de sus países vecinos: Francia, Marruecos, y Argelia. El quinto capítulo, se centra en otra categoría de personas vulnerables que son los estudiantes migrantes. Por último, los principales hallazgos de la tesis se resumen en el último capítulo, donde se proponen recomendaciones para cerrar estas brechas y lograr el desarrollo sostenible, y se exponen las futuras líneas de investigación. [ENG] This doctoral dissertation has been presented in the form of thesis by publication. Many have been the lessons learned by each of us during the pandemic (COVID-19). Indeed, illness, isolation, distance, economic crisis, and fear have taught us to act differently. At a general level, this pandemic has highlighted two elements of common interest that are closely related to each other. The first is the importance of technology in this world that is moving towards digitization, and the second is the importance of supporting each other and creating an alliance against inequalities, because those who suffer the most in crisis situations are the most vulnerable. Today, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), represent an essential element in the personal and professional life of each one, affecting education, work, paperwork processing, even purchasing and transport, among others. This reality has been evidenced in the health crisis where almost everyone has had to switch to another way of working and teaching, which requires having and knowing how to use technology. However, this crisis has also shown that those who have had the most difficulties and the least have been able to access these advantages of ICTs have been the vulnerable populations, who were left out of many simple operations that any citizen of the world should know do. Among them are women, the elderly, citizens of rural areas, people with low income, the unemployed and people with low educational levels. In this thesis, we want to cover the threat posed by the different types of gaps and the factors that affect them, with a specific focus on women, since the gender factor cannot be ignored when half the planet has a woman's name, and it is what represents the main objective of the research work. To do this, we have opted for the use of simple and multiple regressions using Stata, SPSS, NVivo, Matlab and Octave software, which have allowed us to organize the study into six chapters. In the first chapter, an overview is given where the gender advances achieved and those that remain to be achieved are addressed, including the digital gender gap, which is measured in terms of access, use, enjoyment of ICTs, as well as for access to education and digital training, and participation in the labor market. In the second, a paper is presented on the relationship between the digital gender gap and the achievement of the sustainable development goals, which is specified in more detail in the following chapter and is adapted to the rural world. In the fourth chapter, an attempt is made to show the correlation between participation in the agrarian sector, especially in the branch of agriculture, with the variables of education and employment, offering a comparison between Spain and three of its neighboring countries: France, Morocco, and Algeria. The fifth chapter focuses on another category of vulnerable people who are migrant students. Finally, the main findings of the thesis are summarized in the last chapter, where recommendations are proposed to close these gaps and achieve sustainable development, and future lines of research are presented.Esta tesis doctoral se presenta bajo la modalidad de compendio de publicaciones. Está formada por un total de cinco artículos: 1.Kerras, H., Sánchez-Navarro, J.L., López- Becerra, E.I., de-Miguel, M.D. (2020). The Impact of the Gender Digital Divide on Sustainable Development: Comparative Analysis between the European Union and the Maghreb. Sustainability 2020,12, 3347. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083347. 2. Kerras, H., Sánchez-Navarro, J.L., López- Becerra, E.I. de-Miguel, M.D. (2021). Does Women´s education impact the agri-food sustainability? New Medit. N. 1/2022. https://doi.org/10.30682/nm2201b. 3. Kerras, H; Bautista, S; de Miguel, M.D. (2022). Technology, Rurality and Gender… False Friends, but not Enemies! Outlook On Agriculture, 51(2): 238-246. https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221086007. 4. Kerras, H.; Rosique, M.F.; Bautista, S.; de-Miguel Gómez, M.D. (2022). Is the rural population caught in the whirlwind of the digital divide? Agriculture 2022, 12(12), 1976; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12121976. 5. Kerras, H.; Bautista, S.; Piñeros Perea, D.S.; de-Miguel Gómez, M.D. (2022). Closing the Digital Gender Gap among Foreign University Students: The Challenges Ahead. Sustainability 14, 12230. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912230Escuela Internacional de Doctorado de la Universidad Politécnica de CartagenaUniversidad Politécnica de CartagenaPrograma de Doctorado en Ciencias Económicas, Empresariales y Jurídica

1970 Warbler

The 1970 Warbler, yearbook of Eastern Illinois Universityhttps://thekeep.eiu.edu/warbler/1051/thumbnail.jp

Computer Vision Problems in 3D Plant Phenotyping

In recent years, there has been significant progress in Computer Vision based plant phenotyping (quantitative analysis of biological properties of plants) technologies. Traditional methods of plant phenotyping are destructive, manual and error prone. Due to non-invasiveness and non-contact properties as well as increased accuracy, imaging techniques are becoming state-of-the-art in plant phenotyping. Among several parameters of plant phenotyping, growth analysis is very important for biological inference. Automating the growth analysis can result in accelerating the throughput in crop production. This thesis contributes to the automation of plant growth analysis. First, we present a novel system for automated and non-invasive/non-contact plant growth measurement. We exploit the recent advancements of sophisticated robotic technologies and near infrared laser scanners to build a 3D imaging system and use state-of-the-art Computer Vision algorithms to fully automate growth measurement. We have set up a gantry robot system having 7 degrees of freedom hanging from the roof of a growth chamber. The payload is a range scanner, which can measure dense depth maps (raw 3D coordinate points in mm) on the surface of an object (the plant). The scanner can be moved around the plant to scan from different viewpoints by programming the robot with a specific trajectory. The sequence of overlapping images can be aligned to obtain a full 3D structure of the plant in raw point cloud format, which can be triangulated to obtain a smooth surface (triangular mesh), enclosing the original plant. We show the capability of the system to capture the well known diurnal pattern of plant growth computed from the surface area and volume of the plant meshes for a number of plant species. Second, we propose a technique to detect branch junctions in plant point cloud data. We demonstrate that using these junctions as feature points, the correspondence estimation can be formulated as a subgraph matching problem, and better matching results than state-of-the-art can be achieved. Also, this idea removes the requirement of a priori knowledge about rotational angles between adjacent scanning viewpoints imposed by the original registration algorithm for complex plant data. Before, this angle information had to be approximately known. Third, we present an algorithm to classify partially occluded leaves by their contours. In general, partial contour matching is a NP-hard problem. We propose a suboptimal matching solution and show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art on 3 public leaf datasets. We anticipate using this algorithm to track growing segmented leaves in our plant range data, even when a leaf becomes partially occluded by other plant matter over time. Finally, we perform some experiments to demonstrate the capability and limitations of the system and highlight the future research directions for Computer Vision based plant phenotyping