Defining the Environment in Organism–Environment Systems

Enactivism and ecological psychology converge on the relevance of the environment in understanding perception and action. On both views, perceiving organisms are not merely passive receivers of environmental stimuli, but rather form a dynamic relationship with their environments in such a way that shapes how they interact with the world. In this paper, I suggest that while enactivism and ecological psychology enjoy a shared specification of the environment as the cognitive domain, on both accounts, the structure of the environment, itself, is unspecified beyond that of contingent relations with the species-typical sensorimotor capacities of perceiving organisms. This lack of specification creates a considerable gap in theory regarding the organization of organisms as coupled with their environments. I argue that this gap can be filled by drawing from resources in developmental systems theory, namely, specifying the environmental state-space as a developmental niche that shapes and is shaped by individual organisms over developmental and, on a population scale, evolutionary time. Defining the environment as an organism’s developmental niche makes it clearer how and why certain contingencies have arisen, in turn, strengthening a joint appeal to both enactivism and ecological psychology as theories asserting complementarity between organisms and their environments

A grammar of Barupu : a language of Papua New Guinea

This thesis is a descriptive grammar of Barupu, the easternmost member of the Skou family of languages. Barupu is spoken by around 3000 people on the north eoast of New Guinea; its grammar has not previously been described. Barupu is a tone language in which words belong to one of five tone classes and it exemplifies a type of pitch-accent system where for the most part tone is attracted to penultimate stressed syllables and spreads one syllable to the right. Some words, however, have tones lexically specified to one of the final two syllables ofthe word. A key feature of Barupu grammar is that there is no oblique marking on NPs - no particles, adpositions or case markers provide information about a nominal's role in the clause. Instead, Barupu is head-marking. Underived verbs show multiple exponence of subject, which can take the form of double prefixing or prefixing and infixing. There is a set ofsuffixing morphemes that function like applicatives in adding participants to the clause, but which are very atypical in appearing outside verbal inflection and showing extra agreement for subject. Barupu also has a prefixing Benefactive paradigm that replaces regular subject agreement and can be extended to mark external possession. Finally, Barupu is a polysynthetic language and, as such, makes almost no use of f9rmal subordination. Appendices to this thesis include a set of interlinearised texts and a draft of a Barupu-English dictionary with an English-Barupu finderlist

Transmission Annual: Labour, Work, Action

Transmission Annual Labour, Work, Action is framed by Hannah Arendt’s reflections on three important themes of human agency. Arendt refused to be called a philosopher, for philosophy, she said, deals with the singular, while she addressed the plural, that humans not man inhabit the world. She proposes that freedom is constructed in community, in common space, and it is associative, performative, and public. In The Human Condition (1958), she develops her theory of political action, drawing out the distinctions between what is social and what is political, and then what is labour, what is work, what is action (and thus, how is agency achieved, the capacity to act, to make choices, undetermined by supposedly natural forces). Arendt proposes three important human activities: labour, work, and political action. She is as materialist as Karl Marx: labour is a biological activity, a vital necessity operating under constraint. The goal of production is to produce, and there is a constant exchange of objects. It is never-ending, consumed quickly, making a slave of the labourer. Work may be thought of differently, most usefully with the term ‘œuvre’: as what lasts or remains, as ‘technique’ and poiesis, as what is not spent or wasted and is transmitted; a ‘common world’ where life unfolds and objects endure beyond the act of their making. Transmission, in Arendt’s sense, is a struggle against death, and thus already a form of liberty. It is, one might say, the distinction between what is kept and what is thrown away. Yet this freedom is only partial, for work is still instrumental, determined by causes and ends. To work and labour, then, like Arendt, we add an essential action, when ‘something new is started which cannot be expected from whatever happened before’, asking what role might be played by the artist or work of art, and this we propose, makes for agents and agency. Contributors: Ivana Bago, Jordan Bear, Pascal Beausse, Bernard Brunon, Pavel Büchler, Armin Chodzinski, Annie Coll, Michael Corris, Janeil Engelstad, Francesco Finizio, Charlie Gere, Jerome Harrington, David Hopkins, Shannon Jackson, Vincent Victor Jouffe, the Pedagogy Group, Elizabeth Legge, Dana MacFarlane, Roberto Martinez, Mary-Lou Lobsinger, Hester Reeve, Oliver Ressler, John Paul Ricco, Abigail Satinsky, Juliet Stey

PERAMALAN NILAI TUKAR MATA UANG MENGGUNAKAN ALGORITMA GRADIEN CONJUGATE DENGAN METODE FLETCHER-REEVES

ABSTRAKSI: Pada tugas akhir ini, dilakukan peramalan nilai tukar mata uang dengan menggunakan algoritma gradien conjugate dengan metode fletcher-reeves (CGF = conjugate gradient fletcher-reeves). Peramalan merupakan kegiatan untuk mengestimasi suatu nilai di masa yang akan datang dengan menggunakan data masa lalu. Data masa lalu yang digunakan pada peramalan nilai tukar mata uang ini berbentuk time series dan dikumpulkan dari tahun 1998 sampai dengan tahun 2002. Data time series yang terkumpul dibagi menjadi dua: data pelatihan dan data pengujian. Data pelatihan digunakan pada proses pelatihan untuk menghasilkan suatu arsitektur jaringan yang baik dan knowledge. Data pengujian, arsitektur jaringan dan knowledge hasil proses pelatihan digunakan untuk proses pengujian sampai menghasilkan suatu hasil pengujian dengan tingkat keakuratan yang baik. Metode CGF digunakan sebagai engine utama pada sistem peramalan nilai tukar mata uang. Metode CGF adalah salah satu metode dari algoritma gradien conjugate yang melakukan pelatihan dengan dipercepat karena selain menggunakan penurunan tercepat juga menggunakan optimasi numerik. Diharapkan dengan data time series yang terkumpul dan dengan metode CGF sebagai engine utama dapat menghasilkan suatu sistem peramalan nilai tukar mata uang yang dapat meramalkan suatu nilai untuk satu hari ke depan dengan keakuratan yang baik.Kata Kunci : peramalan, nilai tukar mata uang, dan conjugate gradient fletcher-reeves.ABSTRACT: On this final project, made forecasting currency exchange rates by using conjugate gradient Fletcher-Reeves method. Forecasting is an activity for estimate a value in the future by using past data. Past data used in forecasting currency exchange rates this form of time series and were collected from 1998 until 2002. Time series data collected was divided into two: training data and test data. Training data used in the process of training to produce a network of good architecture and knowledge. Test data, network architecture and knowledge results of the training process is used to test the process to produce a test results with a good level of accuracy. CGF method is used as the main engine in the system of forecasting currency exchange rates. CGF method is one method of conjugate gradient algorithm to perform faster training because of use the steepest descent direction and also use numerical optimization. It is expected that with time series data collected and with CGF method as the main engine can produce a system of forecasting currency exchange rates that can predict a value for one day in the future with a good accuracy.Keyword: forecasting, exchange rate currency, and conjugate gradient fletcher-reeves

The development of a generic biological detection system

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Secure Mobile Deployment of NFL Training Materials

The problem addressed is the lack of empirical research describing the delivery of individualized learning material in a secure and mobile manner. The goal was to investigate the effectiveness of deploying training materials to National Football League (NFL) players during a recent NFL season. Over the past few seasons, NFL teams have started to deliver player training material to mobile devices. The training material is sensitive and includes planning documents for upcoming games. An effort was made to survey a representative at each of the 32 NFL teams in order to gain insight on effectiveness, security, and process. Nearly half of the league responded with 14 of the 32 franchises reporting back. The results demonstrate that mobile devices can be an effective means to distribute educational materials to individuals in secure manner. The iPad was identified as a suitable platform for delivery of instructional material. Security elements such as encryption and using mobile security products should be strongly considered. The results are discussed in detail. A set of standards and guidelines were created based on the responses provided by club employees

emPHasis-10: development of a health-related quality of life measure in pulmonary hypertension.

The aim of this study was to develop a measure of the impact of pulmonary hypertension (PH) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as there is a need for a short, validated instrument that can be used in routine clinical practice. Interviews were conducted with 30 PH patients to derive 32 statements, which were presented as a semantic differential six-point scale (0–5), with contrasting adjectives at each end. This item list was completed by patients attending PH clinics across the UK and Ireland. Rasch analysis was applied to identify items fitting a uni-dimensional model. 226 patients (mean age 55.6±14 years; 70% female) with PH (82% had pulmonary arterial hypertension) completed the study questionnaires. 10 of the 32 items demonstrated fit to the Rasch model (Chi-squared 16; p>0.05) and generated the emPHasis-10 questionnaire. Test–retest (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.95, n=33) and internal consistency (Chronbach’s α=0.9) were strong. emPHasis-10 scores correlated consistently with other relevant measures and discriminated subgroups of patients stratified by World Health Organization functional class (ANOVA F=1.73; p<0.001). The emPHasis-10 is a short questionnaire for assessing HRQoL in pulmonary arterial hypertension. It has excellent measurement properties and is sensitive to differences in relevant clinical parameters. It is freely available for clinical and academic use

Long-term effect of azithromycin in bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome

Introduction Azithromycin stabilises and improves lung function forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) in lung transplantation patients with bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). A post hoc analysis was performed to assess the long-term effect of azithromycin on FEV1, BOS progression and survival. Methods Eligible patients recruited for the initial randomised placebo-controlled trial received open-label azithromycin after 3 months and were followed up until 6 years after inclusion (n=45) to assess FEV1, BOS free progression and overall survival. Results FEV1 in the placebo group improved after open-label azithromycin and was comparable with the treatment group by 6 months. FEV1 decreased after 1 and 5 years and was not different between groups. Patients (n=18) with rapid progression of BOS underwent total lymphoid irradiation ( TLI). Progression-free survival (log-rank test p=0.40) and overall survival (log-rank test p=0.28) were comparable. Survival of patients with early BOS was similar to late-onset BOS (log-rank test p=0.74). Discussion Long-term treatment with azithromycin slows down the progression of BOS, although the effect of TLI may affect the observed attenuation of FEV1 decline. BOS progression and long-term survival were not affected by randomisation to the placebo group, given the early cross-over to azithromycin and possibly due to TLI in case of further progression. Performing randomised placebo-controlled trials in lung transplantation patients with BOS with a blinded trial duration is feasible, effective and safe