A survey on the evolution of the notion of context-awareness

The notion of Context has been considered for a long time in different areas of Computer Science. This article considers the use of context-based reasoning from the earlier perspective of AI as well as the newer developments in Ubiquitous Computing. Both communities have been somehow interested in the potential of context-reasoning to support real-time meaningful reactions from systems. We explain how the concept evolved in each of these different approaches. We found initially each of them considered this topic quite independently and separated from each other, however latest developments have started to show signs of cross-fertilization amongst these areas. The aim of our survey is to provide an understanding on the way context and context-reasoning were approached, to show that work in each area is complementary, and to highlight there are positive synergies arising amongst them. The overarching goal of this article is to encourage further and longer-term synergies between those interested in further understanding and using context-based reasoning

Machine learning and ontology in eCoaching for personalized activity level monitoring and recommendation generation

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Economic Theories and the Science of Inter-Branch Relations

One of the fastest-developing areas of political science studies the relationship between the different branches of government. Within that literature, the most popular research questions concern the delegation of powers by one branch to another, the resulting levels of discretion of the delegate, and the control mechanisms available to the delegator. The resulting analyses draw heavily from a handful of economic theories, such as principal-agent, the positive theory of agency, transactions cost economics, and incomplete contracts theory. This article (a) differentiates between those theories, (b) argues that mixing those theories is a self-defeating mistake, and (c) makes a strong and comparative point in favour of re-directing our studies in inter-branch relations towards transactions cost economics. Yet, a truly consistent political-scientific theory of transactions cost economics is still to be developed. The conclusions point to the way forward for the construction of such a theory.Branches of government; Policy-making; Principal-Agent; Transaction cost economics