Learning with delayed reinforcement in an exploratory probabilistic logic neural network

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Leading Learning Networks in Education

This study is one of the main outcomes of Leading Learning by Networking, an Erasmus+ project. It concerns the management of learning networks in schools with regard to the mission of these networks in the context of growing diversity. The text consists of three main parts. The opening chapter is of theoretical study, dealing with the term Professional learning networks and various factors that facilitate this form of collaboration in schools. Attention is also paid to the role of headteachers in the creation of and support for learning networks. The second part is a summary of the results of a qualitative research, which was carried out by means of interviews, aimed at recognition of some aspects of networking in selected schools in the partner countries. Part three describes a range of data obtained from a questionnaire survey on headteachers’ needs and experience in the management of learning networks

RoboArch: Architectural Modelling for Robotic Applications

Robotic systems are being employed in a diverse range of applications, with both the scale and complexity of their software increasing through having to operate in unstructured environments and to provide higher levels of autonomy. In addition, the need for robotic systems to be verified grows as robots are used in applications where they can have significant safety implications. Verification of even small robotic systems software is a challenging problem. Therefore, additional techniques are required to enable the practitioners to produce verified robotic systems. The use of model-driven engineering and domain-specific languages (DSLs) have proven useful in the development of complex systems in other areas so applying them to the field of robotics can contribute to the goal of building reliable and safe systems. In this thesis we present RoboArch, a notation for describing the architectures and patterns of robotic systems software supported by the formally defined semantics of RoboChart. RoboChart is a DSL for modelling the behaviour of robot software controllers using state machines. We describe RoboArch from the top-down. First, we examine the role of robotics software architectures in the development of robotic systems by reviewing five robotics architectures, and five DSLs. Next, for the layered architectural pattern, the RoboArch notation is introduced; we provide a metamodel, well-formedness conditions, and transformation rules to RoboChart. Further, we characterise two patterns: reactive skills and subsumption, which can be used by a layer. Finally, we discuss a tool and its implementation for the evaluation of RoboArch and automation of the rules as model transformations. We use a case study of a small obstacle avoidance system to demonstrate: the application of the reactive skills pattern using RoboArch and the expected properties of the architecture that can be proven using the generated RoboChart model CSP semantics

Supporting the Integration of Internationally Educated Teachers to Foster Equitable Schools

Within a change process grounded in constructivist and transformative worldviews, internationally educated teachers (IETs), an underemployed group in the education sector, can support equity efforts in Ontario schools. The Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) presents an overview of the organizational and environmental factors that contribute to the necessity for change and which influence the change process. A new way of supporting equity work in schools is proposed through a dual change process intended to bring change at the principal organization (meso) and in schools (micro). Kotter’s (2012) eight-stage process is embedded within Cawsey et al.’s (2016) change path model to support change at the micro and meso levels. It is expected that the change process will create circumstances in schools where Principals better support IETs\u27 cultural and social integration by answering four guiding questions: how can the principals\u27 association provoke a shift in attitudes towards IETs from one of apprehension to one of fascination for principals; what knowledge and skills do principals need to support cultural and social integration of IETs in schools; how can school administrators contribute to the success of IETs in school environments and, how can IETs knowledge and experience be leveraged to support equity work? The change implementation plan uses a four-step plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle to execute a multi-step solution, including focus groups, training and resources, and professional learning networks. The different components of the solution will be monitored and evaluated based on detailed yet flexible monitoring and evaluation plans. Pathways to using the change process in other contexts are also explored

Mechanisms and Function of Neural Synchronization in an Insect Olfactory System

One of the fundamental questions in modem integrative neurobiology relates to the encoding of sensory information by populations of neurons, and to the significance of this activity for perception, learning, memory and behavior. Synchronization of activity across a population of neurons has been observed many times over, but has never been demonstrated to be a necessary component of this coding process. Neural synchronization has been found in many brain areas in animals across several phyla, from molluscs to mammals. Studies in mammals have correlated the degree of neural synchronization with specific behavioral or cognitive states, such as sensorimotor tasks, segmentation and binocular rivalry suggesting a functional link. In the locust olfactory system, oscillatory synchronization is a prominent feature of the odor-evoked neural activity. Stimulation of the antenna by odors evokes synchronized firing in dynamic and odor-specific ensembles of the projection neurons of the antennal lobe, the principal neurons of the first-order olfactory relay in insects. The coherent activity of these projection neurons underlies an odor-evoked oscillatory field potential which can be recorded in the mushroom body, the second-order olfactory relay to which they project. In this dissertation, we investigated two important questions raised by these findings: how are such stimulus-evoked synchronous ensembles generated, and what is their functional significance? To address these questions, we performed electrophysiological experiments and recorded odor responses from neurons of the antennal lobes and mushroom bodies of locusts, in vivo and using natural odor stimulation in an unanesthetized, semi-intact preparation. We demonstrated the critical mechanism involved in neural synchronization of the antennal lobe neurons. The synchronization of the projection neurons relies critically on fast GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) -mediated inhibition from the local interneurons. Projection neuron synchronization could be selectively blocked by local injection of the GABA receptor antagonist, picrotoxin. Picrotoxin spared the odor-specific, slow modulation of individual projection neuron responses, but desynchronized the firing of the odor-activated projection neuron assemblies. The oscillatory activity of the local intemeurons was also blocked by picrotoxin, which indicates that such activity depends on network synaptic dynamics. We also showed that the mushroom body networks are capable of generating oscillatory behavior of a similar frequency as that of its projection neuron inputs, and that they may thus be "tuned" to accept synchronized, oscillatory inputs of that frequency range. Our understanding of this mechanism, in tum, made possible the functional investigation of neural synchronization by selective disruption of projection neuron synchronization. We studied a population of neurons downstream from the antennal lobe projection neurons, the extrinsic neurons of the β-lobe of the mushroom body (βLNs). These βLNs were chosen for investigation because they were found to be odor-responsive and because their position in the olfactory pathway makes them a suitable "read-out" of population activity in the antennal lobe. We characterized βLN odor responses before and after selective disruption of the synchronization of the projection neuron ensembles with local picrotoxin injection into the antennal lobe. We showed that the tuning of these βLN responses was altered by PN desynchronization by changing existing responses and inducing new responses. This alteration in tuning resulted in a significant loss of odor specificity in individual βLN responses, an effect that never occurred in the responses of individual, desynchronized projection neurons. We thus propose that neural synchronization is indeed important for information processing in the brain: it serves, at least in part, as a temporal substrate for the transmission of information that is contained across co-activated neurons (relational code) early in the pathway.</p

Transforming Together for Equity, Well-being, and Decolonization

Decolonization, equity, and well-being in K-12 education have become pivotal aims for educational leaders in the province of British Columbia, in Canada, and around the globe. By dismantling coloniality in pedagogical praxes and learning leadership structures within school and district systems, this paper maps a bold and essential journey for change and presents a disruptively anti-colonial amalgam of theory and practice for well-being and equity. In the central Problem of Practice, these complex system leadership goals are investigated through the case of a small and innovative BC school district. Learners—both student and adult—are at the centre of this powerful vision for educational transformation as empowered community change makers, and as beneficiaries of anti-colonial, equitable, and flourishing learning environments articulated in the plan for change. The wisdom of Indigenous and critically oriented epistemologies undergird action. Complex Adaptive Systems organizational theory supports emergence, responsivity, and interconnectedness. Leadership lenses of adaptive leadership are deepened by decoloniality, relationality, and systems thinking. Compassionate Systems Leadership and collaborative inquiry grow capacity for change hand in hand with students, parents, Elders, Indigenous families, community, teachers, and school and district leaders. Well-being and human flourishing are cultivated through networked collaboration, relational accountability, and systemness. These transformative elements cradle a coherent change vision, support solutions, and ultimately embrace an anti-colonial plan for system change focused on decolonizing pedagogy and learning leadership structures. This paper presents vision and action for collective difference-making, so critical for education now—and for a sustainable future. Transforming together is powerful alchemy

Comparing sentiment analysis tools on gitHub project discussions

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáThe context of this work is situated in the rapidly evolving sphere of Natural Language Processing (NLP) within the scope of software engineering, focusing on sentiment analysis in software repositories. Sentiment analysis, a subfield of NLP, provides a potent method to parse, understand, and categorize these sentiments expressed in text. By applying sentiment analysis to software repositories, we can decode developers’ opinions and sentiments, providing key insights into team dynamics, project health, and potential areas of conflict or collaboration. However, the application of sentiment analysis in software engineering comes with its unique set of challenges. Technical jargon, code-specific ambiguities, and the brevity of software-related communications demand tailored NLP tools for effective analysis. The study unfolds in two primary phases. In the initial phase, we embarked on a meticulous investigation into the impacts of expanding the training sets of two prominent sentiment analysis tools, namely, SentiCR and SentiSW. The objective was to delineate the correlation between the size of the training set and the resulting tool performance, thereby revealing any potential enhancements in performance. The subsequent phase of the research encapsulates a practical application of the enhanced tools. We employed these tools to categorize discussions drawn from issue tickets within a varied array of Open-Source projects. These projects span an extensive range, from relatively small repositories to large, well-established repositories, thus providing a rich and diverse sampling ground.O contexto deste trabalho situa-se na esfera em rápida evolução do Processamento de Linguagem Natural (PLN) no âmbito da engenharia de software, com foco na análise de sentimentos em repositórios de software. A análise de sentimentos, um subcampo do PLN, fornece um método poderoso para analisar, compreender e categorizar os sentimentos expressos em texto. Ao aplicar a análise de sentimentos aos repositórios de software, podemos decifrar as opiniões e sentimentos dos desenvolvedores, fornecendo informações importantes sobre a dinâmica da equipe, a saúde do projeto e áreas potenciais de conflito ou colaboração. No entanto, a aplicação da análise de sentimentos na engenharia de software apresenta desafios únicos. Jargão técnico, ambiguidades específicas do código e a breviedade das comunicações relacionadas ao software exigem ferramentas de PLN personalizadas para uma análise eficaz. O estudo se desenvolve em duas fases principais. Na fase inicial, embarcamos em uma investigação meticulosa sobre os impactos da expansão dos conjuntos de treinamento de duas ferramentas proeminentes de análise de sentimentos, nomeadamente, SentiCR e SentiSW. O objetivo foi delinear a correlação entre o tamanho do conjunto de treinamento e o desempenho da ferramenta resultante, revelando assim possíveis aprimoramentos no desempenho. A fase subsequente da pesquisa engloba uma aplicação prática das ferramentas aprimoradas. Utilizamos essas ferramentas para categorizar discussões retiradas de bilhetes de problemas em uma variedade diversificada de projetos de código aberto. Esses projetos abrangem uma ampla gama, desde repositórios relativamente pequenos até repositórios grandes e bem estabelecidos, fornecendo assim um campo de amostragem rico e diversificado

Fuzzy Logic

The capability of Fuzzy Logic in the development of emerging technologies is introduced in this book. The book consists of sixteen chapters showing various applications in the field of Bioinformatics, Health, Security, Communications, Transportations, Financial Management, Energy and Environment Systems. This book is a major reference source for all those concerned with applied intelligent systems. The intended readers are researchers, engineers, medical practitioners, and graduate students interested in fuzzy logic systems

Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia

Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia offers a new understanding of how technological innovation, geopolitical ambitions, and social change converge and cross-fertilize one another through infrastructure projects in Asia. This volume powerfully illustrates the multifaceted connections between infrastructure and three global paradigm shifts: climate change, digitalization, and China’s emergence as a superpower. Drawing on fine-grained analyses of airports, highways, pipelines, and digital communication systems, the book investigates infrastructure both “from above,” as perceived by experts and decision makers, and “from below,” as experienced by middlemen, laborers, and everyday users. In so doing, it provides groundbreaking insights into infrastructure’s planning, production, and operation. Focusing on cities and regions across Asia, the volume combines ten tightly interwoven case studies, from the Bosphorus to Beijing and from the Indonesian archipelago to the Arctic. Written by leading global infrastructure experts in the fields of anthropology, architecture, geography, history, science and technology studies, and urban planning, the book establishes a dialogue between scholarly approaches to infrastructure and the more operational perspective of the professionals who design and build it. This multidisciplinary method sheds light on the practitioners’ mindset, while also attending to the materiality and agency of the infrastructures that they create. Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia is conceived as an act of translation: linking up related—yet thus far disconnected—research across a variety of academic disciplines, while making those insights accessible to a wider audience of students, infrastructure professionals, and the general public