Towards Distributed Memory Parallel Program Analysis

Our work presents a parallel attribute evaluation for distributed memory parallel computer architectures where previously only shared memory parallel support for this technique has been developed. Attribute evaluation is a part of how attribute grammars are used for program analysis within modern compilers. Within this work, we have extended ROSE, a open compiler infrastructure, with a distributed memory parallel attribute evaluation mechanism to support user defined global program analysis required for some forms of security analysis which can not be addresses by a file by file view of large scale applications. As a result, user defined security analyzes may now run in parallel without the user having to specify the way data is communicated between processors. The automation of communication enables an extensible open-source parallel program analysis infrastructure

How numbers mean : Comparing random walk models of numerical cognition varying both encoding processes and underlying quantity representations

How do people derive meaning from numbers? Here, we instantiate the primary theories of numerical representation in computational models and compare simulated performance to human data. Specifically, we fit simulated data to the distributions for correct and incorrect responses, as well as the pattern of errors made, in a traditional “relative quantity” task. The results reveal that no current theory of numerical representation can adequately account for the data without additional assumptions. However, when we introduce repeated, error-prone sampling of the stimulus (e.g., Cohen, 2009) superior fits are achieved when the underlying representation of integers reflects linear spacing with constant variance. These results provide new insights into (i) the detailed nature of mental numerical representation, and, (ii) general perceptual processes implemented by the human visual system

Limited-capacity identity processing of multiple integers

The architecture of the numerical cognition system is currently not well understood, but at a general level, assumptions are made about two core components: a quantity processor and an identity processor. The quantity processor is concerned with accessing and using the stored magnitude denoted by a given digit. The identity processor is concerned with the recovery of the corresponding digit’s identity. Blanc-Goldhammer and Cohen (2014) established that the recovery and use of quantity information operates in an unlimited capacity fashion. Here, we assess whether the identity processor operates in a similar fashion. We present two experiments that are digit identity variations of Blanc-Goldhammer and Cohen’s (2014) magnitude estimation paradigm. The data across both experiments reveal a limited capacity identity processor whose operation reflects cross-talk with the quantity processor. Such findings provide useful evidence that is used to adjudicate between competing models of the human number processing system

The nature of shape constancy mechanisms as revealed by shape priming

Five shape priming experiments are reported in which the target was either a five- or six-sided line-drawn figure and participants made a speeded 2AFC judgment about the target’s number of sides. On priming trials, the target was preceded by a briefly presented smaller line figure (the prime) and performance on these trials was gauged relative to a no prime condition. In the first two experiments, primes were rendered invisible by the presentation of a backwards visual noise mask, respectively for a short (~40 ms) or long duration (~93 ms). No reliable priming effects arose under masked conditions. When these experiments were repeated without the mask, participants were speeded when the prime and target were related by a rigid through-the-plane rotation but not when the prime was a non-rigid, stretched version of the target. The same pattern of priming effects arose when, in a final experiment, novel irregular shapes were used. Collectively, the data reveal the operation of shape constancy mechanisms that are particularly sensitive to shape rigidity. The findings suggest that the visual system attempts to secure a correspondence between the rapid and successive presentations of the prime and the target by matching shapes according to a rigidity constraint

Impact of Mandatory Diversity Training: Lessons from a Private University

Attendance at diversity training programs is often dictated by management, and participants find themselves caught between their genuine desire to broaden their understanding of the subject and resentment at being forced to do so. The outcomes of these mandatory training programs have not been systematically assessed. This study looks at the cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral impacts of attending such a program and finds valuable lessons learned and cautious room for optimism

Improving Vaccination Rates in Bangor, ME

Providers believe vaccination rates at EMMC Center for Family Medicine can be higher. A resurgence in some preventable diseases is likely due to decreased immunization rates. While other preventable diseases have not seen a resurgence, the potential for outbreak exists if immunization rates remain low. Factors contributing to low immunization rates are misinformation, lack of awareness, cost, inconvenience, and infrequent office visits by adolescents.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1012/thumbnail.jp

Performance of Alcohol and Safer Sex Change Rulers Compared With Readiness to Change Questionnaires

As part of a larger intervention study, the authors hypothesized that change rulers created for alcohol and safer sex would be equivalent to longer questionnaires. Ninety-six male college students completed rulers and questionnaires for assessing behavior change readiness. Participants\u27 scores on the rulers significantly correlated with their scores on the questionnaires (r = .77 for alcohol; r = .77 for safer sex). In both domains, the rulers outperformed the questionnaires in predicting behavioral intentions, suggesting that the rulers had at least comparable concurrent criterion validity. This finding is the first of its kind in the safe sex literature and suggests that quick assessments of readiness to change are possible. Because the rulers are a continuous measure, the results are consistent with the idea that the change process is continuous rather than a series of discrete stages

The log-linear response function of the bounded number-line task is unrelated to the psychological representation of quantity

The bounded number-line task has been used extensively to assess the numerical competence of both children and adults. One consistent finding is that young children display a logarithmic response function, whereas older children and adults display a more linear response function. Traditionally, these log-linear functions have been interpreted as providing a transparent window onto the nature of the participants’ psychological representation of quantity (termed here a direct response strategy). Here we show that the direct response strategy produces the log-linear response function regardless of whether the psychological representation of quantity is compressive or expansive. Simply put, the log-linear response function results from task constraints rather than the psychological representation of quantities. We also demonstrate that a proportion/subtraction response strategy produces response patterns that almost perfectly correlate with the psychological representation of quantity. We therefore urge researchers not to interpret the log-linear response pattern in terms of numerical representation

Technical Challenges Associated with In-Air Wingtip Docking of Aircraft in Forward Flight

Autonomous in-air wingtip docking of aircraft offers significant opportunity for system level performance gains for numerous aircraft applications. Several of the technical challenges facing wingtip docking of fixed-wing aircraft are addressed in this paper, including: close proximity aerodynamic coupling; mechanisms and operations for robust docking; and relative state estimation methods. A simulation framework considering the aerodynamics, rigid-body dynamics, and vehicle controls is developed and used to perform docking sensitivity studies for a system of two 5.5% scale NASA Generic Transport Model aircraft. Additionally, proof of- concept testing of a candidate docking mechanism designed to move the primary wingtip vortex inboard suggests the viability of such an approach for achieving robust docking

Five Safes RO-Crate: FAIR Digital Objects for Trusted Research Environments

Trusted Research Environments (TREs) are secure locations in which data are placed for researchers to analyse. TREs can be set up to host administrative data, hospital data or any other data that needs to remain securely isolated. It is hard for a researcher to perform an analysis across multiple TREs, requesting and gathering the data needed from each one. Federated analysis widens the scope of research and makes more effective use of data, but that data needs to be analysed across geographical or governance boundaries, for example in devolved healthcare in the UK and across national borders in Europe.A federated infrastructure makes it much easier for analysis tools to access multiple TREs. Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) is developing a blueprint for TRE federation and tools for federated data discovery. There are different ways of implementing the well-established TREs, and many popular analysis tools already in widespread use, so solutions need to be readily adoptable by existing systems. Moreover, the infrastructure needs to work within the “Five Safes” framework that aims to protect data and enable data services to provide safe research access to data. RO-Crate is a community effort to establish a lightweight, native approach to packaging research data with their metadata. It has become a widely adopted framework for inter-service exchange, resource archiving, and reproducible reporting, used by digital research infrastructures and their services. It is an implementation of the FDO Forum’s FAIR Digital Objects.The HDR UK, through TRE-FX project, has developed the “Five Safes RO-Crate” as a new way of packaging up the digital objects needed for research requests and results with the information needed for the tools and TRE providers. Five Safes RO-Crates enable the exchange of query requests and results between analysis clients and TREs while ensuring that the access is safe and the process transparent. Included within its specification are eight steps that ensure that the RO-Crate’s metadata for safe data, safe people, safe projects, safe settings and safe outputs are reviewed according to Five Safes principles. The Five Safes RO-Crate Profile builds on the Workflow-Run-RO-Crate, first developed in the EU EOSC-Life project, effectively making them a representation of trusted workflow provenance.The approach has been piloted with TREs from Scotland, Wales and England and implemented by two widely used analysis toolkits (DataSHIELD, BitFount). Five Safes RO-Crates will be a pillar of HDR UK’s ongoing Federated Analytics development