Rules and principles in cognitive diagnoses

Cognitive simulation is concerned with constructing process models of human cognitive behavior. Our work on the ACM system (Automated Cognitive Modeler) is an attempt to automate this process. The basic assumption is that all goal-oriented cognitive behavior involves search through some problem space. Within this framework, the task of cognitive diagnosis is to identify the problem space in which the subject is operating, identify solution paths used by the subject, and find conditions on the operators that explain those solution paths and that predict the subject's behavior on new problems. The work presented in this paper uses techniques from machine learning to automate the tasks of finding solution paths and operator conditions. We apply this method to the domain of multi-column subtraction and present results that demonstrate ACM's ability to model incorrect subtraction strategies. Finally, we discuss the difference between procedural bugs and misconceptions, proposing that errors due to misconceptions can be viewed as violations of principles for the task domain

Trajectories escaping to infinity in finite time

Given a function which is transcendental and meromorphic in the plane, such that either the function has finitely many poles or its inverse function has a logarithmic singularity over infinity, the corresponding meromorphic flow has infinitely many trajectories tending to infinity in finite increasing time

The humanism of Charles Francis Potter and Roy Wood Sellars

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1935. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

The use and development of geographical information systems (GIS) and spatial modelling for educational planning

Since the passing of the 1988 Education Reform Act British education, particularly at a secondary level, has been transformed. The changes enacted in this and subsequent legislation have opened up state-provided education to a market-oriented system which is led more by the preferences of parents than the dictation of local or national planners. This means that local authorities and other providers of education have been left in a situation where they are relatively powerless to provide adequate schooling in a proactive manner. It is also the case that there is a danger of a 'two-tier' education system developing whereby the better-informed middle classes are served by high achieving schools and less advantaged pupils are left to fill inner city 'sink' schools which cannot provide them with the same educational chances due to lower resource levels. This thesis presents a feasibility study of a variety of techniques drawn from academic and applied geography which can be utilised by such planners in order to better target the resources available to them and improve their reactions to the vagaries of the market. These tools concentrate on geographical information systems (GIS) and spatial modelling techniques. Although both of these sets of techniques have for many years been applied in other areas, including within local Government, they have yet to permeate to a decision-making level in education planning. Thus the time is ripe for their wider dissemination and application in this area. Several examples of the possible uses of GIS are given, using real data for Leeds schools and pupils. Various types of spatial model are described and the most appropriate are calibrated and applied using the same Leeds data. The thesis concludes that the benefits of modelling techniques for planners at all scales, from individual schools to national Government, could be enormous. Through the application of these tools planners will be better placed to provide an education service which caters for all pupils within it. However, there are caveats regarding the requirement for further research into improving model performance and ensuring that output is sufficiently user-friendly

Regional acreage response functions for major US field crops: estimation and policy implications

The purpose of this study is to investigate potential regional differences in the supply response of crop producers to alternative market and government policy incentives. To accomplish this task, a set of acreage response functions are specified and estimated for 8 principal field crops (spring wheat, winter wheat, corn, sorghum, oats, barley, soybeans, and cotton) produced in 11 spatial regions of the United States (Appalachia, Corn Belt, Delta States, Lake States, Northeast, Northern Plains, Northwest, Southeast, Southern Plains, Southwest, and Western Plains). Variables in the functions include those related to expected per-acre gross returns from crop production, the impact of government policy programs (especially, loan rates, target prices, diversion payments, and allotments), and the effects of risk and uncertainty upon acreage response. Important elasticities are determined for each crop and region

Victims of the same destiny : Italy in the postcolonial, the postcolonial in Italy

PhD ThesisThis thesis concentrates on a series of canonical Italian anti-Fascist writers, and argues that their work is informed and underpinned by an engagement with colonialism. Working between Italian and English, the thesis establishes an original framework for comparative reading, in which it traces neglected lines of literary influence and networks of intellectual and political dialogue between Italian and Indian writers in the inter-war and post-war periods. The first chapter explores the contours of the ‘anti-colonial imagination’ underpinning the work of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Focusing particularly on his lesser-known and often un-translated pre-prison writings, it suggests that the critical terminology for which he has become best known in postcolonial studies emerges as part of his gradual elaboration of an anti-colonial position. The second chapter looks at the ways in which Ignazio Silone’s novel Fontamara represents Fascism as a form of internal colonialism, before moving on to think about the significance of its influence on Raja Rao’s Kanthapura and what the implications of this line of influence might be for our understanding of what defines postcolonial writing. The third chapter turns to the work of Carlo Levi, and argues that his lifelong commitment to exposing the internal colonization of the Italian South forms part of a broader anti-colonial commitment that carries him to India and brings him into dialogue with writers like Mulk Raj Anand. Finally, the fourth chapter charts the remarkably pervasive yet critically neglected textual relationship between Italo Calvino and Salman Rushdie, and argues that Rushdie’s postcolonial aesthetics emerge partly through his readings and re-workings of Calvino. Taken together, these four cases tell us much about how a certain trajectory of Italian anti-Fascist writing laboured towards what we might think of as forms of anti-colonial and postcolonial thought. Simultaneously, they invite us to ask questions about the unseen role that these writers have played in shaping our sense of what it means for writing to be ‘postcolonial’.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

Non-invasive estimation of left atrial dominant frequency in atrial fibrillation from different electrode sites: Insight from body surface potential mapping

© 2014, CardioFront LLC. All rights reserved. The dominant driving sources of atrial fibrillation are often found in the left atrium, but the expression of left atrial activation on the body surface is poorly understood. Using body surface potential mapping and simultaneous invasive measurements of left atrial activation our aim was to describe the expression of the left atrial dominant fibrillation frequency across the body surface. 20 patients in atrial fibrillation were studied. The spatial distributions of the dominant atrial fibrillation frequency across anterior and posterior sites on the body surface were quantified. Their relationship with invasive left atrial dominant fibrillation frequency was assessed by linear regression analysis, and the coefficient of determination was calculated for each body surface site. The correlation between intracardiac and body surface dominant frequency was significantly higher with posterior compared with anterior sites (coefficient of determination 67±8% vs 48±2%,

Effective oversight of Methodist Fresh Expressions: An exploration of how fresh expressions are challenging the practice, discipline, and ecclesiology of the Methodist Church, with specific reference to the task of presbyteral oversight.

The British Methodist Church defines oversight as the means by which churches remain true to their calling. Its presbyters are charged with upholding Constitution, Practice, and Discipline or ‘CPD’. This research employs a combination of Practical Theology methods to examine the challenge of applying CPD to fresh expressions (forms of Church established for the benefit of those who are not yet members of a local church). It offers three original insights in regard to the tension between mission-praxis and ecclesiological discipline. First, it provides empirical evidence to support the anecdotal observation that not all fresh expressions are authentic in that they lack ecclesial intent. A combination of factors inhibited this. New churches can be formed when twelve Methodist members unite. Current legislation allows members of the Church to belong to only one society, meaning that leaders face the conflict of leaving their parent church if they are to form a new church. Second, membership mediated an unequal power balance between fresh expressions and their parent churches, undermining progress towards achieving a ‘mixed economy’. This situation was confounded by the fact that newcomers to fresh expressions viewed Methodist membership as an institutional construct and requirement, rather than an opportunity for spiritual renewal. Third, the Methodist Church policy that encourages presbyters to apply CPD with a ‘light-touch’ in respect of how its disciplines are applied to new work, risks inconsistency. This thesis invites the Church to find a way of identifying which of its fresh expressions have genuine ecclesial intent, reflect on how membership is impacting their ecclesial formation, and widen its existing legislation so that a Methodist member may belong to two local societies at the same time. This, combined with additional District oversight, would remove some significant barriers to ecclesial formation

On the derivatives of composite functions

Let g be a non-constant polynomial and let f be transcendental and meromorphic of sub-exponential growth in the plane. Then if k\geq 2 and Q is a polynomial the function (f\circ g)^{(k)}-Q has infinitely many zeros. The same conclusion holds for k \geq 0 and with Q a rational function if f has finitely many poles. We also show by example that this result is sharp

Opportunistic detection of atrial fibrillation using blood pressure monitors: a systematic review

Background: Atrial Fibrillation (AF) affects around 2% of the population and early detection is beneficial, allowing patients to begin potentially life-saving anticoagulant therapies. Blood pressure (BP) monitors may offer an opportunity to screen for AF. Aim: To identify and appraise studies which report the diagnostic accuracy of automated BP monitors used for opportunistic AF detection. Methods: A systematic search was performed of the Medline, Medline-in-process and Embase literature databases. Papers were eligible if they described primary studies of the evaluation of a BP device for AF detection, were published in a peer reviewed journal and reported values for the sensitivity and specificity. Included studies were appraised using the QUADAS-2 tool to assess their risk of bias and applicability to opportunistic AF detection. Values for the sensitivity and specificity of AF detection were extracted from each paper and compared. Results and Conclusion: We identified seven papers evaluating six devices from two manufacturers. Only one study scored low risk in all of the QUADAS-2 domains. All studies reported specificity greater than 85% and six reported sensitivity greater than 90%. The studies showed that blood pressure devices with embedded algorithms for detecting arrhythmias show promise as screening tools for AF, comparing favourably with manual pulse palpation. But the studies used different methodologies and many were subject to potential bias. More studies are needed to more precisely define the sensitivity and specificity of opportunistic screening for AF during blood pressure measurement before its clinical utility in the population of interest can be assessed fully