Review of "Computational logic and human thinking: How to be artificially intelligent" by Robert Kowalski

Unknow

The Value of a College Degree

A Bryant brochure measuring the value of a college degree in business circa 1932. Exact publication date unknow

Characteristics of proton velocity distribution functions in the near-lunar wake from Chandrayaan-1/SWIM observations

Due to the high absorption of solar wind plasma on the lunar dayside, a large scale wake structure is formed downstream of the Moon. However, recent in-situ observations have revealed the presence of protons in the near-lunar wake (100 km to 200 km from the surface). The solar wind, either directly or after interaction with the lunar surface (including magnetic anomalies), is the source of these protons in the near-wake region. Using the entire data from the SWIM sensor of the SARA experiment onboard Chandrayaan-1, we analysed the velocity distribution of the protons observed in the near-lunar wake. The average velocity distribution functions, computed in the solar wind rest frame, were further separated based on the angle between the upstream solar wind velocity and the IMF. Several proton populations were identified from the velocity distribution and their possible entry mechanism were inferred based on the characteristics of the velocity distribution. These entry mechanisms include (i) diffusion of solar wind protons into the wake along IMF, (ii) the solar wind protons with finite gyro-radii that are aided by the wake boundary electric field, (iii) solar wind protons with gyro-radii larger than lunar radii from the tail of the solar wind velocity distribution, and (iv) scattering of solar wind protons from the dayside lunar surface or from magnetic anomalies. In order to gain more insight into the entry mechanisms associated with different populations, backtracing is carried out for each of these populations. For most of the populations, the source of the protons obtained from backtracing is found to be in agreement with that inferred from the velocity distribution. There are few populations that could not be explained by the known mechanisms and remain unknown.Comment: 8 figures, paper accepted in Icarus (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2016.01.03

Beginner teacher preparedness for inclusion : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology

The exclusion of students who experience disability is a social justice issue that persists in New Zealand despite efforts to establish a fully inclusive education system. Although there has been some research into the teaching of inclusive practice in initial teacher education (ITE) in New Zealand, little research examining beginner teachers’ feelings of preparedness for inclusion has been undertaken. This mixed-methods study investigated the role of ITE in preparing beginner, secondary school teachers for including diverse groups of learners by capturing their experiences of ITE and early career. Phase one involved an online questionnaire to secondary school teachers in the first three years of their career. Phase two involved conducting four follow-up interviews exploring salient findings from the questionnaire. The findings of this study suggest that while ITE recognises the diversity of the classroom, it falls short when it comes to the pragmatic implications for teaching and learning. The vast majority of participants felt their ITE did little or nothing to help them develop their knowledge of legislation and policy as it relates to inclusion. Two-thirds of participants felt that their ITE did little or nothing to help them develop their knowledge of supports available for students who experience disability while the majority had little to no experience teaching such students on practicum. Teachers’ sense of preparedness to include learners varied significantly according to their personal connection with a person with a disability. Several key themes which align with literature in the field of teacher education for inclusion emerged, namely: knowledge about, and understanding of inclusive pedagogy; lack of focus on legislation, policy and human rights; lack of focus on collaborative practice; and beginner teachers not identifying as lifelong learners. Research-driven practices that are beneficial in preparing teachers to make sociallyjust decisions are discussed in light of the themes. These include: (1) critical reflection about experiences gained during practicum and service-learning opportunities; (2) explicit teaching of human rights; (3) explicit teaching about effective collaboration with professionals, teacher aides and whānau

Analysis of business demography using markov chains : an application to Belgian data

This paper applies the theory of finite Markov chains to analyse the demographic evolution of Belgian enterprises. While other methodologies concentrate on the entry and exit of firms, the Markov approach also analyses migrations between economic sectors. Besides helping to provide a fuller picture of the evolution of the population, Markov chains also enable forecasts of its future composition to be made, as well as the computation of average lifetimes of companies by branch of activity. The method is applied to Belgian data from the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE). To ensure compliance with Eurostat-OECD definitions, only 'active' enterprises, i.e. enterprises with a positive turnover and/or at least one employee, are considered. The forecasting method is applied to simulate the demographic evolution of the CBE population between 2000 and 2006. This simulation seems to match well the observed changes. Taking migrations into account yields better forecasts than if they are not considered. Moreover, several off-diagonal percentages in the transition matrix are sigificantly different from zero. A case study shows that these migrations are changes in main activity and not the consequence of corrections of wrongly classified firms. Next, the average remaining lifetime and the average age of enterprises in a particular branch of activity is computed and analysed. These lifetimes and ages differ considerably across branches. As expected the life-times of public services are longer than average. Shorter lifetimes combined with an increasing number of enterprises is an indication of renewal inside the branch. A low average age is a sign of relatively new branches. Comparing age to total expected lifetime yields an indicator of closeness to extinction. This might be an indicator of the maturity of the branch. The method is more generally applicable in the sense that it can be used to analyse other populations than those from the CBE and other partitions of the populationBusiness demography, Markov chains, Transition matrix

Unknow newspapers of the Mexican Independence

En este artículo se reconstruye la historia de tres periódicos desconocidos de la Independencia mexicana, a partir de los testimonios documentales de la época. Además, se aclaran los nombres de los editores e impresores responsables de su redacción y composición, y se estudian las características de la imprenta que utilizaron en su elaboración, el tiraje de los impresos y los mecanismos de difusión por los distintos territorios de la Nueva España