5,648 research outputs found
MAS: Towards Resource-Efficient Federated Multiple-Task Learning
Federated learning (FL) is an emerging distributed machine learning method
that empowers in-situ model training on decentralized edge devices. However,
multiple simultaneous FL tasks could overload resource-constrained devices. In
this work, we propose the first FL system to effectively coordinate and train
multiple simultaneous FL tasks. We first formalize the problem of training
simultaneous FL tasks. Then, we present our new approach, MAS (Merge and
Split), to optimize the performance of training multiple simultaneous FL tasks.
MAS starts by merging FL tasks into an all-in-one FL task with a multi-task
architecture. After training for a few rounds, MAS splits the all-in-one FL
task into two or more FL tasks by using the affinities among tasks measured
during the all-in-one training. It then continues training each split of FL
tasks based on model parameters from the all-in-one training. Extensive
experiments demonstrate that MAS outperforms other methods while reducing
training time by 2x and reducing energy consumption by 40%. We hope this work
will inspire the community to further study and optimize training simultaneous
FL tasks.Comment: ICCV'23. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:2207.0420
Comparative Multiple Case Study into the Teaching of Problem-Solving Competence in Lebanese Middle Schools
This multiple case study investigates how problem-solving competence is integrated into teaching practices in private schools in Lebanon. Its purpose is to compare instructional approaches to problem-solving across three different programs: the American (Common Core State Standards and New Generation Science Standards), French (Socle Commun de Connaissances, de Compétences et de Culture), and Lebanese with a focus on middle school (grades 7, 8, and 9). The project was conducted in nine schools equally distributed among three categories based on the programs they offered: category 1 schools offered the Lebanese program, category 2 the French and Lebanese programs, and category 3 the American and Lebanese programs. Each school was treated as a separate case.
Structured observation data were collected using observation logs that focused on lesson objectives and specific cognitive problem-solving processes. The two logs were created based on a document review of the requirements for the three programs. Structured observations were followed by semi-structured interviews that were conducted to explore teachers' beliefs and understandings of problem-solving competence. The comparative analysis of within-category structured observations revealed an instruction ranging from teacher-led practices, particularly in category 1 schools, to more student-centered approaches in categories 2 and 3. The cross-category analysis showed a reliance on cognitive processes primarily promoting exploration, understanding, and demonstrating understanding, with less emphasis on planning and executing, monitoring and reflecting, thus uncovering a weakness in addressing these processes. The findings of the post-observation semi-structured interviews disclosed a range of definitions of problem-solving competence prevalent amongst teachers with clear divergences across the three school categories.
This research is unique in that it compares problem-solving teaching approaches across three different programs and explores underlying teachers' beliefs and understandings of problem-solving competence in the Lebanese context. It is hoped that this project will inform curriculum developers about future directions and much-anticipated reforms of the Lebanese program and practitioners about areas that need to be addressed to further improve the teaching of problem-solving competence
The European AI Liability Directives -- Critique of a Half-Hearted Approach and Lessons for the Future
As ChatGPT et al. conquer the world, the optimal liability framework for AI
systems remains an unsolved problem across the globe. In a much-anticipated
move, the European Commission advanced two proposals outlining the European
approach to AI liability in September 2022: a novel AI Liability Directive and
a revision of the Product Liability Directive. They constitute the final
cornerstone of EU AI regulation. Crucially, the liability proposals and the EU
AI Act are inherently intertwined: the latter does not contain any individual
rights of affected persons, and the former lack specific, substantive rules on
AI development and deployment. Taken together, these acts may well trigger a
Brussels Effect in AI regulation, with significant consequences for the US and
beyond.
This paper makes three novel contributions. First, it examines in detail the
Commission proposals and shows that, while making steps in the right direction,
they ultimately represent a half-hearted approach: if enacted as foreseen, AI
liability in the EU will primarily rest on disclosure of evidence mechanisms
and a set of narrowly defined presumptions concerning fault, defectiveness and
causality. Hence, second, the article suggests amendments, which are collected
in an Annex at the end of the paper. Third, based on an analysis of the key
risks AI poses, the final part of the paper maps out a road for the future of
AI liability and regulation, in the EU and beyond. This includes: a
comprehensive framework for AI liability; provisions to support innovation; an
extension to non-discrimination/algorithmic fairness, as well as explainable
AI; and sustainability. I propose to jump-start sustainable AI regulation via
sustainability impact assessments in the AI Act and sustainable design defects
in the liability regime. In this way, the law may help spur not only fair AI
and XAI, but potentially also sustainable AI (SAI).Comment: under peer-review; contains 3 Table
What works to reduce equality gaps for disabled students in higher education: Rapid Combined Evidence Review
This evidence review explores what works to reduce equality gaps for disabled students in higher education (HE) through an extensive systematic review of the academic literature, engagement with expert stakeholders, and analysis of institutional data
The place where curses are manufactured : four poets of the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was unique among American wars. To pinpoint its uniqueness, it was necessary to look for a non-American voice that would enable me to articulate its distinctiveness and explore the American character as observed by an Asian. Takeshi Kaiko proved to be most helpful. From his novel, Into a Black Sun, I was able to establish a working pair of 'bookends' from which to approach the poetry of Walter McDonald, Bruce Weigl, Basil T. Paquet and Steve Mason. Chapter One is devoted to those seemingly mismatched 'bookends,' Walt Whitman and General William C. Westmoreland, and their respective anthropocentric and technocentric visions of progress and the peculiarly American concept of the "open road" as they manifest themselves in Vietnam. In Chapter, Two, I analyze the war poems of Walter McDonald. As a pilot, writing primarily about flying, his poetry manifests General Westmoreland's technocentric vision of the 'road' as determined by and manifest through technology. Chapter Three focuses on the poems of Bruce Weigl. The poems analyzed portray the literal and metaphorical descent from the technocentric, 'numbed' distance of aerial warfare to the world of ground warfare, and the initiation of a 'fucking new guy,' who discovers the contours of the self's interior through a set of experiences that lead from from aerial insertion into the jungle to the degradation of burning human
feces. Chapter Four, devoted to the thirteen poems of Basil T. Paquet, focuses on the continuation of the descent begun in Chapter Two. In his capacity as a medic, Paquet's entire body of poems details his quotidian tasks which entail tending the maimed, the mortally wounded and the dead. The final chapter deals with Steve Mason's JohnnY's Song, and his depiction of the plight of Vietnam veterans back in "The World" who are still trapped inside the interior landscape of their individual "ghettoes" of the soul created by their war-time experiences
Modern Folk Devils
The devilish has long been integral to myths, legends, and folklore, firmly located in the relationships between good and evil, and selves and others. But how are ideas of evil constructed in current times and framed by contemporary social discourses? Modern Folk Devils builds on and works with Stanley Cohen’s theory on folk devils and moral panics to discuss the constructions of evil. The authors present an array of case-studies that illustrate how the notion of folk devils nowadays comes into play and animates ideas of otherness and evil throughout the world. Examining current fears and perceived threats, this volume investigates and analyzes how and why these devils are constructed. The chapters discuss how the devilish may take on many different forms: sometimes they exist only as a potential threat, other times they are a single individual or phenomenon or a visible group, such as refugees, technocrats, Roma, hipsters, LGBT groups, and rightwing politicians. Folk devils themselves are also given a voice to offer an essential complementary perspective on how panics become exaggerated, facts distorted, and problems acutely angled.;Bringing together researchers from anthropology, sociology, political studies, ethnology, and criminology, the contributions examine cases from across the world spanning from Europe to Asia and Oceania
Charms and Charming
In the book are presented studies of 18 renowned researchers focussing on the verbal aspects of everyday magic, placing in the centre the richest and most poetic manifestation of verbal magic – the charm or incantatio. Incantations are in Europe well spread folklore genre, which contain very old magical elemrnts. The book covers wide spectrum of regions, from United Kingdom to Russia and Iran, and includes also Slovenia. The researchers have devoted their attention to phenomenological and theoretical studies of incantatio, and have discussed various topics, from the origin of charms and ancient European magical practices, to the receptions and diffusions of different types of charms
Perspectives on Public Policy in Societal-Environmental Crises
This is an open access book. Histories we tell never emerge in a vacuum, and history as an academic discipline that studies the past is highly sensitive to the concerns of the present and the heated debates that can divide entire societies. But does the study of the past also have something to teach us about the future? Can history help us in coping with the planetary crisis we are now facing? By analyzing historical societies as complex adaptive systems, we contribute to contemporary thinking about societal-environmental interactions in policy and planning and consider how environmental and climatic changes, whether sudden high impact events or more subtle gradual changes, impacted human responses in the past. We ask how societal perceptions of such changes affect behavioral patterns and explanatory rationalities in premodernity, and whether a better historical understanding of these relationships can inform our response to contemporary problems of similar nature and magnitude, such as adapting to climate change
The Multifaceted Nature of Food and Nutrition Insecurity around the World and Foodservice Business
The international concept of food security is a situation where all people have physical, social, and economic access at all times to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. All four parameters (availability, access, utilization, and stability) should therefore be measured to determine food security status.Taking into account these premises, this book aims to present original research articles and reviews concerning the following: Agriculture and food security; Agri-tourism and its potential to assist with food security; Business–science cooperation to advance food security; Competing demands and tradeoffs for land and water resources; Consumer behavior, nutritional security and food assistance programs; Food and health; Global and local analyses of food security and its drivers; Global governance and food security; Infectious and non-infectious diseases and food security; Reducing food loss and waste; Reducing risks to food production and distribution from climate change; Supply chains and food security; Technological breakthroughs to help feed the globe; Tourism food security relationship; Urbanization, food value chains, and the sustainable, secure sourcing of food; Food and service quality at food catering establishments; Consumer behavior at foodservice operations (restaurants, cafés, hotels)
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