Persistent Contextual Values as Inter-Process Layers

Mobile applications today often fail to be context aware when they also need to be customizable and efficient at run-time. Context-oriented programming allows programmers to develop applications that are more context aware. Its central construct, the so-called layer, however, is not customizable. We propose to use novel persistent contextual values for mobile development. Persistent contextual values automatically adapt their value to the context. Furthermore they provide access without overhead. Key-value configuration files contain the specification of contextual values and the persisted contextual values themselves. By modifying the configuration files, the contextual values can easily be customized for every context. From the specification, we generate code to simplify development. Our implementation, called Elektra, permits development in several languages including C++ and Java. In a benchmark we compare layer activations between threads and between applications. In a case study involving a web-server on a mobile embedded device the performance overhead is minimal, even with many context switches.Comment: 8 pages Mobile! 16, October 31, 2016, Amsterdam, Netherland

Embodied cognition with and without mental representations: The case of embodied choices in sports

© 2019 Raab and Araújo. In this conceptual analysis contribution to the special issue on radical embodied cognition, we discuss how embodied cognition can exist with and without representations. We explore this concept through the lens of judgment and decision-making in sports (JDMS). Embodied cognition has featured in many investigations of human behavior, but no single approach has emerged. Indeed, the very definitions of the concepts “embodiment” and “cognition” lack consensus, and consequently the degree of “radicalism” is not universally defined, either. In this paper, we address JDMS not from a rigid theoretical perspective but from two embodied cognition approaches: one that assumes there is mediation between the athlete and the environment through mental representation, and another that assumes direct contact between the athlete and the environment and thus no need for mental representation. Importantly, our aim was not to arrive at a theoretical consensus or set up a competition between approaches but rather to provide a legitimate scientific discussion about how to explain empirical results in JDMS from contrasting perspectives within embodied cognition. For this, we first outline the definitions and constructs of embodied cognition in JDMS. Second, we detail the theory underlying the mental representation and direct contact approaches. Third, we comment on two published research papers on JDMS, one selected by each of us: (1) Correia et al. (2012) and (2) Pizzera (2012). Fourth, following the interpretation of the empirical findings of these papers, we present a discussion on the commonalities and divergences of these two perspectives and the consequences of using one or the other approach in the study of JDMS

Optical properties and pulse shape discrimination of safe liquid scintillators

In particle physics, especially in neutrino physics, there is rising demand for safe liquid scintillators in large detectors. Therefore, different scintillators, which are characterised by a high flash point and low vapour pressure, were studied in context of this work. The optical properties of different safe solvent were optimized by the selection of different wavelength shifters and variation of their concentration. In particular, the light yield, attenuation length and the capability of Pulse Shape Discrimination (PSD) of different scintillator samples were determined. In this context we found three promising scintillator samples based on DIN, LAB and silicone oil. The DIN based scintillator has an outstanding light yield and PSD, but a relative low attenuation length. The LAB based scintillator on the other hand has a more than five times larger attenuation length than DIN, but a lower light yield and PSD. The silicone oil based scintillator has a slightly worse light yield and PSD than LAB, but is characterised by a very high flash point and very low vapour pressure even compared to other safe scintillators. Moreover, it is chemical inert, simple disposable and classified with no GHS pictogram

A longitudinal study of migration propensities for mixed-ethnic unions in England and Wales

This research was funded by the ESRC under the Understanding Population Trends and Processes (UPTAP) programme (Award Ref: RES-163-25-0045).Most studies investigating residential segregation of ethnic minorities ignore the fact that the majority of adults live in couples. In recent years there has been a growth in the number of mixed-ethnic unions that involve a minority member and a white member. To our knowledge, hardly any research has been undertaken to explicitly examine whether the ethnic mix within households has an impact on the residential mobility of households in terms of the ethnic mix of destination neighbourhoods. Our study addresses this research gap and examines the tendencies of mobility among mixed-ethnic unions in comparison with their co-ethnic peers. We used data from the Longitudinal Study for England and Wales. Our statistical analysis supports the spatial assimilation theory; ethnic minorities move towards less deprived areas and to a lesser extent also towards less ethnically concentrated areas. However, the types of destination neighbourhood of minority people living in mixed-ethnic unions varied greatly with the ethnicity of the ethnic minority partner.PostprintPeer reviewe

Review of the Supply of and Demand for Further Education in Scotland

These documents provide are an Executive Summary and Full Report of the background to, methodology for, and overall conclusions and recommendations of a review of the supply of and demand for Further Education (FE) provision in Scottish Further Education colleges in 2000. The review was commissioned by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC), and carried out between November 1999 and June 2000 by a team of researchers drawn from the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU), the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, Glasgow Caledonian University/University of Stirling, and the Applied Statistics Group, Napier University

Balanced Allocations: A Simple Proof for the Heavily Loaded Case

We provide a relatively simple proof that the expected gap between the maximum load and the average load in the two choice process is bounded by $(1+o(1))\log \log n$, irrespective of the number of balls thrown. The theorem was first proven by Berenbrink et al. Their proof uses heavy machinery from Markov-Chain theory and some of the calculations are done using computers. In this manuscript we provide a significantly simpler proof that is not aided by computers and is self contained. The simplification comes at a cost of weaker bounds on the low order terms and a weaker tail bound for the probability of deviating from the expectation

Embodied choices bypass narratives under radical uncertainty.

Johnson et al. suggest that we rely on narratives to make choices under radical uncertainty. We argue that in its current version Conviction Narrative Theory (CNT) does not account for embodied, direct sensorimotor influences on choices under radical uncertainty that may bypass narratives, particularly in highly time-constrained situations. We therefore suggest to extend CNT by an embodied choice perspective

The selection of covariates for the relationship between blood-lead and ability

This thesis arose from a problem in the analysis of data from the Edinburgh Lead Study. The data were to be used to estimate the influence of children's blood lead levels on their mental abilities, controlling for other factors which might confound this relationship. The other factors were summarised as a set of covariate scores, and the question arose as to which of these scores should be included in a multiple regression whose purpose was to estimate the coefficient of blood-lead. This problem has arisen in other studies of the influence of lead on ability, and a variety of solutions have been implemented. The statistical and epidemiological literature offers little guidance.The problem is formalised by proposing regression models with various assumptions. Expressions are derived for the mean-square-error of the parameter of special interest (here the blood-lead coefficient) in terms of quantities which can be calculated from the data. Various stepwise procedures are proposed for selecting a sub-set of covariates to include in the regression equation. These include the usual stepwise procedures, as well as new ones based on the various meansquare-error criteria and on changes in the coefficient of interest. These procedures are studied for the data from the Edinburgh Lead Study and evaluated by simulation in different ways.The potential for variance reduction from sub-models, compared to including all covariates, is a function of the multiple correlation between the variable of special interest and the variables which could be omitted from the model. The results suggest that, unless this correlation exceeds 0.2, inferences should be based on a regression with the full set of covariates. The greatest benefit is obtained from sub-set selection procedures when the multiple correlation is increased as a result of a decrease in the residual degrees of freedom. In these circumstances the multiple correlation will be high, but its value will fall when the usual adjustment for degrees of freedom is applied. The simulation results suggest that sub-set selection will be beneficial when the residual degrees of freedom for the full model are less than three time the number of covariates.The method which performed best was to select, at each step, the variable which made the largest change in the coefficient of interest. Stopping rules for this criterion are propped. This method was less prone than the other methods to underestimate the variance of the coefficient of interest, when this is evaluated in the usual way for the final model. But it performed badly and underestimated this variance, for artificial data where the population multiple correlation between the variable of special interest and the covariates was high. This suggests that sub-set selection should not be used when the estimated multiple correlation adjusted for degrees of freedom is high.These criteria applied to the Lead Study data would suggest that the effect of lead on ability should be assessed by adjusting for all the covariate scores