The philosophy of scientific experimentation: a review

Practicing and studying automated experimentation may benefit from philosophical reflection on experimental science in general. This paper reviews the relevant literature and discusses central issues in the philosophy of scientific experimentation. The first two sections present brief accounts of the rise of experimental science and of its philosophical study. The next sections discuss three central issues of scientific experimentation: the scientific and philosophical significance of intervention and production, the relationship between experimental science and technology, and the interactions between experimental and theoretical work. The concluding section identifies three issues for further research: the role of computing and, more specifically, automating, in experimental research, the nature of experimentation in the social and human sciences, and the significance of normative, including ethical, problems in experimental science

Hard Real-Time Linux for Off-The-Shelf Multicore Architectures

This document describes the research results that were obtained from the development of a real-time extension for the Linux operating system. The paper describes a full extension of the kernel, which enables hard real-time performance on a 64-bit x86 architecture. In the first part of this study, real-time systems are categorized and concepts of real-time operating systems are introduced to the reader. In addition, numerous well-known real-time operating systems are considered. QNX Neutrino, RT_PREEMPT Linux Patch and HLRT Linux Patch are analyzed in detail. The core concepts of these systems are shown and discussed. Furthermore, a test suite is developed, which is used to obtain expressive benchmarks from the systems that were analyzed before. The systems are evaluated on the basis of these benchmarks and compared to the real-time extension which is developed in this work. A requirements catalogue is defined based on the analysis of the stated operating systems. The design of a real-time extension is developed based on the specification catalogue and the identified core concepts. Furthermore, the concrete implementation of the developed real-time extension is presented in detail. Finally, the benchmarks of all analyzed systems, including the developed real-time extension, are compared to each other and evaluated

Service Quality of On-Campus Student Housing: A South African Experience

This study adds to the service quality literature on student housing, particularly within a South African context. The study proposes and confirms a modified model of SERVQUAL and assesses the quality of on-campus student housing at a South African university based on 430 respondents’ expectations and perceptions. Exploratory, first- and second-order confirmatory factor analyses performed as part of the data analysis confirmed that on-campus student housing service quality can be viewed as a second-order construct defined by four first-order dimensions: interaction, empathy, general amenities, and room amenities. T-tests and ANOVA tests show that neither age nor gender relates significantly to service quality perceptions. The data also reveal a four-tier structure of service quality which can guide residence managers in allocating limited resources to those service dimensions students regard as most important, but least satisfactory

Perceived Quality, Visitor Satisfaction And Conative Loyalty In South African Heritage Museums

Museums are increasingly forced to pay attention to marketing-related aspects such as perceived service quality, satisfaction and loyalty. Using data from three South African heritage museums, this article first delineates the construct of perceived quality and then investigates the relationships between perceived quality, satisfaction and conative loyalty. The resulting perceived quality model comprises two service-based dimensions (service interaction and service evidence) and two product-based dimensions (product functionality and product enrichment). In addition, the results indicate that visitors’ perceived quality has both an indirect effect (through satisfaction) and a direct effect on their behavioral intentions, with the former effect being greater than the latter

Measurement And Consequences Of U.S. Tourists Perceptions Of Service Quality: A South African Hunting Safari Case Study

This research verifies the usefulness of the service quality principles and the Basic Service Package elements of the Augmented Service Offering model in measuring perceived service quality of a complex wildlife tourist activity. In addition, it determines the existence of a quality-satisfaction and quality-intention link. The South African hunting safari serves as an illustrating example. As U.S. hunters constitute the largest cluster of non-domestic customers in the South African safari hunting industry, their perceptions of service quality and the resulting satisfaction and behavioral intentions can significantly impact the sustainable competitiveness and profitability of safari service providers. The results negate the applicability of the SERVQUAL model, but confirm the usefulness of the Augmented Service Offering model in measuring the service quality of the safari hunt and in identifying areas of service failure and adequate service performance. The regression analysis confirmed the existence of important quality-satisfaction and quality-intention links

Segmenting And Profiling South African Minibus Taxi Commuters: A Factor-Cluster-Tabulation Analysis Approach

Privately-owned minibus taxis provide public transportation to 65% of South African households. However, relatively little is known about the characteristics and expectations of these commuters. This research identified the underlying dimensions of minibus taxi commuters’ expectations, documented market segments based on these dimensions and reports the differences between the segments with respect to their demographic and behavioral characteristics. Following a factor-cluster-tabulation analysis, three sets of expectations, namely, safety, suitability and substantiality and three segments, namely, anxious users, concerned users and apprehensive users were identified. This study showed that expectations, a less common segmentation base, is effective in dividing the market and provides knowledge of consumer identification that can serve as a source of better customer service

An Examination Of The Museum Experience Based On Pine And Gilmore's Experience Economy Realms

This study determined whether Pine and Gilmore’s four experience economy realms (education, entertainment, escapism and esthetics) were represented by visitors’ experiences of three South African heritage museums, evaluated whether their experience expectations associated with the experience realms had been met, and examined the relationship between the latter, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. In addition, the relationship between personal and trip-related factors and the experience realms was investigated. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified three experience realms - edutainment, escapism and esthetics. While visitors had positive on-site experiences within all three experience realms, edutainment made the strongest contribution to the prediction of overall satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Age had a significant effect on respondents’ judgment about all three realms. Place of residence (local, national or international) had a significant effect on edutainment and esthetics

In vivo insulin action and resistance. The hyperinsulinaemic, euglycaemic clamp technique in conscious rats

After almost 75 years of research and four Nobel prizes awarded for insulin-related investigations, we still do not understand how insulin works. Of course, substantial progress has been made and there are some clues. We review in vivo insulin action from the moment of insulin biosynthesis in the pancreatic β-cell to insulin action on effector systems in target tissues. The mechanism of insulin action at the whole body, tissue and cellular level is discussed. In addition, factors and conditions influencing insulin action and events leading to insulin resistance are summarized. Finally, the reader is introduced into the principles of the hyperinsulinaemic, euglycaemic clamp technique which is considered the "golden standard" for measurement of insulin action and resistance in vivo. An example is given how to clamp conscious rats in a proper way.Biomedical Reviews 1996; 5: 31-45

Factors influencing offspring traits in the oviparous multi-clutched lizard,Calotes versicolor (Agamidae)

The determinants of offspring size and number in the tropical oviparous multi-clutched lizard, Calotes versicolor, were examined using both univariate and multivariate (path) analyses. In C. versicolor maternal snout-vent length (SVL) and body condition influence clutch mass and clutch size but have no significant influence on offspring size. The positive effect of maternal SVL and body condition on offspring number is counterbalanced by a negative effect of breeding time on egg mass. In fact, breeding time directly influences the offspring body mass and condition through variation in the egg mass. There is a trade-off between offspring mass and condition with offspring number, and breeding time influences both. Offspring hatched from the eggs of early (May-June) or mid (July-August) breeding periods invariably show lower mass and condition than those hatched from the eggs of late breeding season (September-October). Yet, there is no variation in offspring SVL among early, mid and late clutches. Thus, inC. versicolor offspring SVL is optimized while body mass and condition are not optimized