Randomized Caches Can Be Pretty Useful to Hard Real-Time Systems

Cache randomization per se, and its viability for probabilistic timing analysis (PTA) of critical real-time systems, are receiving increasingly close attention from the scientific community and the industrial practitioners. In fact, the very notion of introducing randomness and probabilities in time-critical systems has caused strenuous debates owing to the apparent clash that this idea has with the strictly deterministic view traditionally held for those systems. A paper recently appeared in LITES (Reineke, J. (2014). Randomized Caches Considered Harmful in Hard Real-Time Systems. LITES, 1(1), 03:1-03:13.) provides a critical analysis of the weaknesses and risks entailed in using randomized caches in hard real-time systems. In order to provide the interested reader with a fuller, balanced appreciation of the subject matter, a critical analysis of the benefits brought about by that innovation should be provided also. This short paper addresses that need by revisiting the array of issues addressed in the cited work, in the light of the latest advances to the relevant state of the art. Accordingly, we show that the potential benefits of randomized caches do offset their limitations, causing them to be - when used in conjunction with PTA - a serious competitor to conventional designs

The educational needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in UK in one local authority in England: Professional and child perspectives

This two-part small-scale research is positioned within a social constructionist interpretive epistemology. Both parts of the research used qualitative methods. Part One explores the perspectives of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in relation to their educational experiences in the UK. It also considers the experiences, opportunities and challenges for school and college staff with supporting the educational needs of UASC in a shire county in England. The methodology employed to collect the data for Part One consisted of semi-structured interviews with six professionals and the ‘Talking Stones’ (Wearmouth, 2004) interview technique with six UASC. For Part Two of the research, a Collaborative Action Research (CAR) approach was used consisting of one cycle of three group supervision sessions with five professionals from Part One. Within the group supervision sessions, a Solution Circles framework was implemented and participants were encouraged to prepare cases to discuss and collaboratively problem solve. The benefits to supporting the needs of UASC by introducing professionals to the process of group supervision are also explored. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) interpretation of Thematic Analysis was employed across both phases as a method of data analysis. This enabled themes to be identified which emerged from the data. Two key findings were discovered to play a significant role in the UASC’s social and emotional wellbeing: the uncertainty of the UASC’s future in relation to their unresolved asylum status and their acquisition and fluency of English language. The latter is discussed in relation to how fully the students felt able to integrate and communicate their needs. Barriers to language also link closely to students accessing the curriculum and their experience of inclusion within the setting. An array of opportunities and challenges of supporting the social and emotional needs of UASC are outlined by school and college staff. Such findings include: recognising and identifying the social and emotional needs of UASC, a lack of experience and opportunities for staff training, challenges with inclusion and integration of UASC within the educational settings, funding and available resources, developing supportive and trusting relationships over time and forming social connections. Within the paper, these findings are explored in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s (1979; 1989) Ecological Systems Theory. Implications for educational professionals and for educational psychology practitioners are discussed

Learning to Listen: Leadership Lessons From North American Indigenous Voices

What difference does it make that Indigenous peoples were destroyed by Western colonial hoards, often in the name of God? What can be learned from the voices of Native Americans who understand traditional values and pre-colonial leadership practices? How can these voices be lifted up into twenty-first century conversations concerning cultural and leadership issues in a post-modern world? Are these voices worth listening to? What are they saying? This paper proposes a call to pay attention to traditional ways of thinking that need to be renewed today, particularly for individuals and organizations that are weary of faddish leadership rhetoric that is more often than not theorized rather than experienced. This paper is a call not only to learn to listen to authoritative voices but to also live out a way of life that includes a more human, less institutional way of thinking and behaving that can impact individuals and organizations that desire a healthier way of being. The voices in these pages are primarily Indigenous calls to think and behave in more humane ways. They are voices that cry out for equity, justice, and common sense. They are voices from history, but they are also contemporary, very much alive in the twenty-first century. They are longing to be heard but not with fanfare or acclaim. These are humble and strong voices that have been temporarily suppressed but that refuse to be silent any longer. My hope for this project is that many would heed these voices and consider a better way, a simpler way, and a more sane way to treat and to lead others. It is time to learn to listen carefully