Link IDE : A Real Time Collaborative Development Environment

While working on large scale development projects all software engineers find themselves, at some point, working with a source control system in order to add or re-vert changes to code. With software projects involving a multitude of programmers this is a crucial part of successful development. When working on a smaller project howev-er, with a tight knit group, setting up and dealing with such a system can become more work than it is worth. To solve this problem a real time collaborative integrated devel-opment environment could be used. The IDE’s focus would be on providing a collabora-tive setting for programming teams or pair programming by taking advantage of real time text editing, the ability to build and run code, chat, and various other team and task oriented features. Instead of running into code conflicts at check-in time, users would be able to see conflicts appearing in real-time. This would allow small programming teams to bypass source control, avoid wasting time, and spend more time collaborating. Real time text editing has recently become popular with its appearance in Google Docs. There are a number of open source applications that support real time text editing. Real time editing by multiple users allows not only for excellent collaborative programming but can also be very effective in teaching sessions of programming. Other features such as chatting and task lists would also help to create a fully immersive and organized col-laborative environment where users do not need outside tools in order to collaborate

Machine learning techniques for efficient query processing in kowledge base systems

In this dissertation we propose a new technique for efficient query processing in knowledge base systems. Query processing in knowledge base systems poses strong computational challenges because of the presence of combinatorial explosion. This arises because at any point during query processing there may be too many subqueries available for further exploration. Overcoming this difficulty requires effective mechanisms for choosing from among these subqueries good subqueries for further processing. Inspired by existing works on stochastic logic programs, compositional modeling and probabilistic heuristic estimates we create a new, nondeterministic method to accomplish the task of subquery selection for query processing. Specifically, we use probabilistic heuristic estimates to make the necessary decisions. This approach combines subquery and knowledge base properties and previous query processing experience with conditional probability theory to derive a probability of success for each subquery. The probabilities of success are used to select the next subquery for further processing. The underlying, property-specific probabilities of success are learned via a machine learning process involving a set of training sample queries. In this dissertation we present our new methodology and the algorithms used to accomplish both the training and query processing phases of the system. We also present a method for determining the minimum training set size needed to achieve probability estimates with any desired limit on the maximum size of the errors

Systematics, Ecology, and Social Biology of the Musk Duck (Biziura Lobata) of Australia.

Musk Ducks (Biziura lobata) exhibit a number of unusual morphological and behavioral traits. The most notable of these include: greatly abducted hind-limbs for underwater swimming efficiency, extreme sexual size dimorphism and pronounced structural dimorphism, lek display activity, elaborate sexual display repertoires, and the distinctly non-waterfowl-like trait of provisioning young with all their food from the time of hatch until fledging. Despite such peculiarities and obvious theoretical potential in the areas of comparative morphology, sexual selection, and brood ecology, few studies of Musk Ducks have been undertaken, and those to date have been either small in scope and design, or focused on captive birds. I present here an investigation of historical, ecological, and social aspects of Musk Duck biology that hitherto have gone unstudied or generally remained unnoticed. Based on phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA sequences of the cytochrome b gene, I conclude that Musk Ducks are not close relatives of other stifftail ducks (e.g., Nomonyx, Oxyura) as previously surmised, but rather, a more distant, independently derived lineage in which hind-limb morphology and other correlated diving adaptations have evolved convergently. Multivariate analyses of sixteen anatomical measurements, likewise, suggest that sexual selection has played an important role in determining overall patterns of male morphometric variation. Niche divergence, on the other hand, can not be ruled out and might also be a viable explanation of observed levels of sexual size dimorphism. Time-budget and activity-pattern information generally support these conclusions, revealing pronounced differences between sexes, in addition to large scale patterns of spatial and temporal variation. Acoustic analyses of sexual advertising displays reveal fixed cultural differences between eastern and western populations consistent with Bassian faunal elements, in addition to previously undescribed variation within populations. Comparisons with immature wild birds and captive adults also indicate that dialects are learned

The Role Of Story Telling In A Police Probationer Training Classroom

This thesis is about the role played by story telling in a Metropolitan Police Probationer Classroom in South London in the early 1990s. The method used is one of discourse analysis of the type advocated by Potter and Wetherall, 1987):The form and function of themes, role-plays, case studies, anecdotes and hypothetical accounts are considered in this setting. The central argument here is that all these types of story are used to introduce an element of work place practice into the classroom context. This serves to motivate the students to learn by emphasising the relevance of the lesson material. Such motivation gives rise to student involvement in the classroom activity. In this way, the pedagogical goals of experiential learning and student involvement are achieved and a broader cultural value favouring practice over theory is realised. As with all stories, themes, role-plays, case studies and hypothetical accounts are subject to the constraint of verisimilitude. This thesis suggests that the way in which verisimilitude is defined and applied in any given setting is highly context dependent. In this setting, verisimilitude focuses on the cognitive and task oriented elements of experiences that the students are thought to be likely to encounter in their work place. Stories that deviate from this focus might result in the students becoming bored or distracted; this may result in a situation in which the objectives of the curriculum are not met. For these reasons, trainers endeavour to control the use of stories by influencing every aspect of their telling. The rigour with which this definition of verisimilitude is applied in this setting varies according to the type of the story to be told and the lesson material in which it is to be used. Judgements of verisimilitude are more rigorous when stories that are likely to exert high attentional or emotional demands on the students are used

Studies On The Human And Bovine Spinal Cord Protein

This report contributes to the knowledge of antiencephalitogenic spinal cord protein (SCP) with respect to three major areas of study: (1) the purification and characterization of human SCP; (2) the nature of the association of SCP with nervous tissue components and (3) purification of cyanogen bromide-derived peptides of bovine SCP.;Human SCP and a protein immunochemically identical to SCP (SCP-PN) were purified from spinal cords and peripheral nerves with 0.15 M sodium chloride, carboxy-methyl cellulose chromatography and gel filtration on Sephadex G-50 superfine. SCP and SCP-PN had estimated molecular weights of 13,700 and 14,700 daltons, respectively and had similar amino acid compositions. The isoelectric point of SCP-PN was estimated to be 9.9. Immunodiffusion analyses with anti-human SCP sera or anti-bovine SCP sera revealed that human SCP and SCP-PN are each composed of two different antigenic forms. Each antigenic form contains a distinct immunogenic domain that is identical to one of the immunogenic sites on bovine SCP.;Bovine SCP-PN is identical to the P(,2) protein found in purified peripheral nerve myeline. The bovine SCP-PN content of 0.3 M NaCl extracts of whole tissue was 1.3 mg per g of tissue. Approximately 0.33 mg of SCP-PN was found in the soluble fraction of 0.8 M sucrose homogenates of bovine peripheral nerves. Densitometry data indicated that SCP-PN decreased from 19% of the total myelin protein to less than 1% when purified myelin was extracted with 0.3 M sodium chloride or 0.05 M hydrochloric acid. The basic proteins SCP-PN and lysozyme bound to myelin and sodium chloride-extracted myeline when they were added to a suspension of myelin in 0.8 M sucrose. Pepsin, an acidic protein, did not bind to myelin. The results suggest that in 0.8 M sucrose, positively charged SCP-PN can bind to negatively charged myelin. Myelin-associated SCP-PN behaves like a peripheral membrane protein.;This interpretation is consistent with earlier research in which bovine SCP-PN was localized by immunohistological techniques in axons of peripheral nerves but not in myelin sheaths surrounding the axons. The histological fixatives acetone and 95% ethanol/ether did not render SCP-PN in whole tissue insoluble in saline. This result indicates that if a tissue section is washed with saline after fixation with acetone or 95% ethanol/ether, then most of the SCP-PN in the tissue section could be solubilized. . . . (Author\u27s abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of school.) UM

The post-medieval rural landscape: towards a landscape archaeology?

This article examines the evidence for engagement with the rural post-medieval landscape using two national case studies: Wales and Scotland. The issues reflected in these case studies are indicative of the wider challenges for archaeologists and professional practitioners alike. The article recognizes that landscape is not just about geographical place, but an archaeological theoretical framework. It proposes that Post-Medieval Archaeology monographs and conference sessions specific to landscape could help to tease out themes that address the big questions of the post-medieval world — capitalism, modernity and improvement — but also take account of agency, identity and meanin

A Quantitative Simulation Study of Obesity Development Among a Young Population

Purpose: Studying the process of obesity development among a real human population is difficult due to its impracticalities and ethical limitations. Our study aims to discover quantitative relationships and patterns in body weight change and obesity development via a novel approach - mathematical modeling of human metabolism and body weight simulation. Methods: Using publicly available data from the CDC, 1000 male and 1000 female individuals 18 years of age were randomly generated as a virtual population following a normal distribution in body weight and height. Three sample groups, each consisting of 100 male and 100 female individuals, were randomly selected for study and were labeled as “normal weight”, “overweight”, and “obese” according to their individuals’ BMI values. Three case studies, in scenarios of consistent overeating, holiday overeating, and body weight loss, with a total of 850 simulations, were performed. Results: The simulations showed (i) The time to become obese and the amount of daily extra calories taken share an exponential relationship. (ii) The body weight gain from holiday season overeating can last up to 2 years if no extra physical activity is taken. (iii) Compared to normal weight individuals, obese individuals have a much higher energy-to-fat conversion rate (56% vs. 35%). (iv) Exercising is about 26% more effective in aiding fat reduction than dieting. (v) Changes in fat mass and fat-free mass share a competitive relationship in both long and short-term weight gain/loss. Conclusions: Suggestions to benefit individuals in body weight control and obesity prevention were concluded: (i) One should be watchful of his/her diet due to the exponential relationship between the amount of overeating and the time to become obese. (ii) The “snowball effect” accumulation of holiday season weight gain every year is heightened by a lack of physical activity and may prove to be a key factor in the rise of obesity in America. Thus, it is important for one to regularly exercise and increase physical activity after holiday overeating. (iii) It is imperative that obese individuals take extra caution during holiday seasons due to their higher energy-to-fat conversion rates. (iv) Exercising is a better weight loss method compared to dieting, in terms of body composition change