Microservices: Granularity vs. Performance

Microservice Architectures (MA) have the potential to increase the agility of software development. In an era where businesses require software applications to evolve to support software emerging requirements, particularly for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, we examine the issue of microservice granularity and explore its effect upon application latency. Two approaches to microservice deployment are simulated; the first with microservices in a single container, and the second with microservices partitioned across separate containers. We observed a neglibible increase in service latency for the multiple container deployment over a single container.Comment: 6 pages, conferenc

Hieronymus Bosch\u27s Dismantled Triptych and the \u3ci\u3e\u27Devotio Moderna\u27\u3c/i\u3e

Flemish painter Jeroen van Aken, better known as Hieronymus Bosch, created a triptych depicting the folly of humanity. This dismantled triptych includes the Ship of Fools, the Allegory of Intemperance, the Death of the Miser, and the Rotterdam Wayfarer, completed between 1500 and 1510. Throughout his career, Bosch explored a peculiar take on the traditional forms of wellknown religious motifs throughout Renaissance Europe by populating his scenes with fantastical creatures and monsters. Scholars have long since suggested that these forms were inspired by illuminated manuscripts. However, scholars provided no explanation as to why these texts drew Bosch’s attention. This thesis argues that the practice of Devotio Moderna inspired Bosch to mine the pages of illuminated manuscripts for the fantastical images found throughout his oeuvre. The Devotio Moderna movement also functions as a lens through which we can understand the meaning behind his work

McNair Summer Research Journal 2003

2003 McNair Summer Research Journal features abstracts of the summer research of the following students: Joseph Aheto, Harold Daniel Akyeampong, Ana Andujar, Craig Aswad-Waleed, Grant Atkins, Rich Brown, Nakia M. Burrows, Latoya L. Coleman, Helen Coon, Deacy Dee, Niema N. Georges, Candace Lynn Hoffman, Irina Kasap-Ignatovets, Neelofer Jaffery, Misselle L. Jeffcoat, Luis Labrador, Angela Marie Miller, Rachel Mitaritonna, Nicholas Montaqu,e Michael Nance, Andrea Rodriguez, Jah-el Russell, Elba Alicia Simpson, and Fortune B.K.A. Tor.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/mcnair_journal/1009/thumbnail.jp

The standard error of measurement is a more appropriate measure of quality for postgraduate medical assessments than is reliability: an analysis of MRCP(UK) examinations

Background: Cronbach's alpha is widely used as the preferred index of reliability for medical postgraduate examinations. A value of 0.8-0.9 is seen by providers and regulators alike as an adequate demonstration of acceptable reliability for any assessment. Of the other statistical parameters, Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) is mainly seen as useful only in determining the accuracy of a pass mark. However the alpha coefficient depends both on SEM and on the ability range (standard deviation, SD) of candidates taking an exam. This study investigated the extent to which the necessarily narrower ability range in candidates taking the second of the three part MRCP(UK) diploma examinations, biases assessment of reliability and SEM.Methods: a) The interrelationships of standard deviation (SD), SEM and reliability were investigated in a Monte Carlo simulation of 10,000 candidates taking a postgraduate examination. b) Reliability and SEM were studied in the MRCP(UK) Part 1 and Part 2 Written Examinations from 2002 to 2008. c) Reliability and SEM were studied in eight Specialty Certificate Examinations introduced in 2008-9.Results: The Monte Carlo simulation showed, as expected, that restricting the range of an assessment only to those who had already passed it, dramatically reduced the reliability but did not affect the SEM of a simulated assessment. The analysis of the MRCP(UK) Part 1 and Part 2 written examinations showed that the MRCP(UK) Part 2 written examination had a lower reliability than the Part 1 examination, but, despite that lower reliability, the Part 2 examination also had a smaller SEM (indicating a more accurate assessment). The Specialty Certificate Examinations had small Ns, and as a result, wide variability in their reliabilities, but SEMs were comparable with MRCP(UK) Part 2.Conclusions: An emphasis upon assessing the quality of assessments primarily in terms of reliability alone can produce a paradoxical and distorted picture, particularly in the situation where a narrower range of candidate ability is an inevitable consequence of being able to take a second part examination only after passing the first part examination. Reliability also shows problems when numbers of candidates in examinations are low and sampling error affects the range of candidate ability. SEM is not subject to such problems; it is therefore a better measure of the quality of an assessment and is recommended for routine use

Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a digital technology that will be of major importance for the development of humanity in the near future. AI has raised fundamental questions about what we should do with such systems, what the systems themselves should do, what risks they involve and how we can control these. - After the background to the field (1), this article introduces the main debates (2), first on ethical issues that arise with AI systems as objects, i.e. tools made and used by humans; here, the main sections are privacy (2.1), manipulation (2.2), opacity (2.3), bias (2.4), autonomy & responsibility (2.6) and the singularity (2.7). Then we look at AI systems as subjects, i.e. when ethics is for the AI systems themselves in machine ethics (2.8.) and artificial moral agency (2.9). Finally we look at future developments and the concept of AI (3). For each section within these themes, we provide a general explanation of the ethical issues, we outline existing positions and arguments, then we analyse how this plays out with current technologies and finally what policy conse-quences may be drawn

Spiritual formation : a course for leaders of the church in the majority world

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1809/thumbnail.jp

Is Cognitive Linguistics deadly sinful? On the pros and cons of Cognitive Linguistics and its development

Cognitive Linguistics started from the 1980s, and it has become a mainstream since the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, which has got widespread attention, with a nickname as the third revolution in linguistic circles after the Saussurean Revolution and the Chomskyean Revolution. According to the dialectical principle of “negation of negation”, theoretical research is always advancing, thus the linguists are beginning to think of the shortcomings of Cognitive Linguistics and new developments in the future. For instance, Dabrowska (2016) pointed out the seven deadly sins of Cognitive Linguistics, which, we think, are overstated and too radical. Cognitive Linguistics has its own historical significance and makes great contributions to the criticism of Saussurean “Linguistic Apriorism” and Chomskyean “Linguistic Nativism”, but Cognitive Linguistics also has its own weaknesses, which are to be exposed in brief in this paper. We have also tried to propose “Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics as a revision in order to emphasize the philosophical views of “materialism” and “humanism” as a basic start in linguistic research

From leaders to leadership

Pre-print; author's draft; Final version published as From `Leaders' to `Leadership' : nurturing a leadership cultureThis article presents a view of institutional leadership that is a relational process of organisational member (and other key stakeholders), irrespective of position or status, taking up their role in the purposes of the enterprise

Factors associated with underreporting of adverse drug reactions by health care professionals: a systematic review update

Introduction Underreporting is a major limitation of the voluntary reporting system of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). A 2009 systematic review showed the knowledge and attitudes of health professionals were strongly related with underreporting of ADRs. Objective Our aim was to update our previous systematic review to determine factors (sociodemographic, knowledge and attitudes) associated with the underreporting of ADRs by healthcare professionals. Methods We searched the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases for studies published between 2007 and 2021 that met the following inclusion criteria: (1) published in English, French, Portuguese or Spanish; (2) involving health professionals; and (3) the goal was to evaluate factors associated with underreporting of ADRs through spontaneous reporting. Results Overall, 65 papers were included. While health professional sociodemographic characteristics did not influence underreporting, knowledge and attitudes continue to show a significant effect: (1) ignorance (only serious ADRs need to be reported) in 86.2%; (2) lethargy (procrastination, lack of interest, and other excuses) in 84.6%; (3) complacency (the belief that only well tolerated drugs are allowed on the market) in 46.2%; (4) diffidence (fear of appearing ridiculous for reporting merely suspected ADRs) in 44.6%; and (5) insecurity (it is nearly impossible to determine whether or not a drug is responsible for a specific adverse reaction) in 33.8%, and the absence of feedback in 9.2%. In this review, the non-obligation to reporting and confidentiality emerge as new reasons for underreporting. Conclusions Attitudes regarding the reporting of adverse reactions continue to be the main determinants of underreporting. Even though these are potentially modifiable factors through educational interventions, minimal changes have been observed since 2009Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This study has been funded in part by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) through the project PI19/01006, cofinanced by FEDER, European UnionS

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD: THEORIES OF \u3cem\u3eNOBLESSE OBLIGE\u3c/em\u3e IN CAROLINGIAN FRANCIA

This thesis argues that conceptions of commerce in the Carolingian era were intertwined with the discourse of ethics, and that concepts of the Carolingian ‘economy’ may be profitably illuminated by consideration of pre-modern ethical and social categories. I explore a pre-modern pattern of personhood that framed persons in terms of political rôles, and exchange in terms of the interactions of those rôles. In moral letters addressed to counts and kings, ethical counsel about greed for each lay rôle was grounded in particular geographic spaces and historical moments, creating a rich valence of specific meanings for greed and charity. I examine letters in which Paulinus of Aquileia, Alcuin of York, Jonas of Orléans, and Dhuoda of Uzés treated the greed of counts, and those in which Smaragdus of St. Mihiel, Sedulius Scottus, and Hincmar of Rheims treated that of kings. In each letter’s definition of greed are found interactions with specific elements exchanged, and correlative meanings of greed far from limited to the ‘love of silver’, but also not wholly vague and spiritualized. Greed and largesse constituted the language in which Carolingian writers discussed economic exploitation, tyranny, plunder, investment, credit, and noblesse oblige