ADLib: An Arduino Communication Framework for Ambient Displays

As computers become more and more a part of our everyday lives, the need to change the way in which people interact with them is also evolving. Ambient displays provide an effective way to move computers away from our main focus and into the periphery. ADLib is a small communication framework that aims to simplify the construction of ambient displays built using the Arduino prototyping platform. The ADLib framework provides an easy-to-use library for communicating with an Arduino, allowing the user to focus on the construction and development of the display. The framework consists of three main components: A protocol for encoding information to be sent from a host computer to the Arduino An Arduino library for receiving and parsing incoming data A desktop application for sending data to the Arduin

Catalyst for change or empty exchange? : evaluating the impact of short term home-stays in Manila squatter communities on participating New Zealanders : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University

This study is a qualitative evaluation of a scheme called Discovery Teams, offered by the Christian agency Servants to Asia's Urban Poor. It examines the experiences of twenty-two New Zealanders who have spent between one and four weeks staying as guests in the home of Filipino squatter families, and evaluates the various ways this experience has generated ongoing changes in their lives. The study concludes that participating in a discovery team has acted as a catalyst for change in most team members' lives. This is especially true for those who have already begun to ask questions about poverty and suffering - and their own response to these issues - before their trip to Manila. Most team members fit this description, thanks to a thorough program of personal and team preparation. The study also reveals that participating in a discovery team during a time of personal transition - such as a change in employment or marital status - increases the probability of team members implementing changes on return to their home country. Being immersed in an urban poor community, building relationships with local people, and reflecting regularly on these experiences all contribute to team members gaining a deeper understanding of the many ways that poverty impacts the lives of real people. Those who come to understand that there are connections between their own abundance and the poverty of others are very likely to develop a deeper sense of personal responsibility toward the poor. They are consequently more likely to continue responding to poverty through different aspects of their lifestyle, vocation and the practice of their faith. However, for most this requires some level of resolve to grow in personal maturity - particularly their ability to look beyond themselves - and a willingness to allow their Christian faith to adapt to a more complex understanding of reality. Responsible leadership, exercised by mature team leaders, also positively influences each of these outcomes in team members' lives

Maths in Medicine: How to Survive a Science Fair

When talking to secondary school students, first impressions are crucial. Accidentally say something that sounds boring and you'll lose them in seconds. A physical demonstration can be an eye-catching way to begin an activity or spark off a conversation about mathematics. This is especially true in the context of an event like a science fair where there are hundreds of other exhibitors and stands, possibly involving loud music and/or dancing robots! In this article we describe three devices that were built to illustrate specific physical phenomena that occur in the human body. Each device corresponds to a simple mathematical model which contains both elements that are accessible to pupils in the early years of secondary education and more challenging mathematical concepts that might appeal to A-level students. Two of the devices relate to the Windkessel effect, a physical phenomenon that regulates blood flow, and the third demonstrates the elastic properties of ligaments and tendons

Maximizing Quality and Value in Medicaid: Using Return on Investment Forecasting to Support Effective Policymaking

Outlines how forecasting the return on investment of quality measures enhances the efficient allocation of resources, adoption of evidence-based policies, and payment reform. Presents examples from states in an ROI Forecasting Calculator pilot program

Detection of setting and subject information in documentary video

Interpretation of video information is a difficult task for computer vision and machine intelligence. In this paper we examine the utility of a non-image based source of information about video contents, namely the shot list, and study its use in aiding image interpretation. We show how the shot list may be analysed to produce a simple summary of the \u27who and where\u27 of a documentary or interview video. In order to detect the subject of a video we use the notion of a \u27shot syntax\u27 of a particular genre to isolate actual interview sections

Australian local governments and the early national broadband network roll-out: an online survey

A recent decision by the Australian Federal Government to reassess the scale of the National Broadband Network (NBN) will leave the country with a patchwork of different levels of access to the infrastructure. This intensifies the need to investigate and evaluate the implications of telecommunication at the local level. The paper opens a discussion on the different approaches taken by local government authorities towards the NBN in the early roll-out localities. Building upon the international literature, it analyses the empirical data collected from the Australian local governments involved with the early NBN roll-out using an online survey. The findings reveal an interesting diversity in the approaches taken at the local level, and show how decision-making at higher levels of government can impact local outcomes

Optical Observations of PSR J0205+6449

PSR J0205+6449 is a X-ray and radio pulsar in supernova remnant 3C 58. We report on observations of the central region of 3C 58 using the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope with the intention of identifying the optical counterpart of PSR J0205+6449 and characterising its pulsar wind nebula. Around the pulsar position we identified extended emission with a magnitude of B = 23 \fm 97 \pm 0.10, V = 22 \fm 95 \pm 0.05 and R = 22 \fm 15 \pm 0.03 consistent with a pulsar wind nebula. From the R-band image we identified three knots with $m_R$ = 24 \fm 08 \pm 0.07 (o1), 24 \fm 15 \pm 0.07 (o2) and 24 \fm 24 \pm 0.08 (o3). We confirm the presence of an optical pulsar wind nebula around PSR J0205+6449 and give an upper limit of $m_R \approx$ 24 for the optical magnitude of the pulsar. Furthermore we make the tentative suggestion that our object o1, with an $m_R \approx$ 24.08 is the optical counterpart. If confirmed the pulsar would have an $L_R/L_x\approx 0.004$ and an optical efficiency of about 5% of the Crab pulsar. Such a low efficiency is more consistent with the characteristic age of the pulsar rather than that of SN 1181.Comment: The paper contains 3 figures and 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

Piece-Rates, Principal-Agent, and Productivity Profiles: Parametric and Semi-Parametric Evidence

This paper exploits the natural link between observed wages and productivity that is inherent in piece-rate wage data to estimate worker productivity profiles. Piece-rate wages are functions of the parameters of the compensation system and worker effort. Identifying productivity from such data requires separating out these effects. This can be accomplished by explicitly modelling the principal-agent relationship between the worker and the firm and deriving optimal decision rules for worker effort. This approach is applied to historical payroll data collected from a British Columbia copper mine. The salient aspects of the mine's production process are incorporated into the model, namely, asymmetric information, team production and heterogeneous workers. Solving the model for equilibrium worker effort implies a censored wage distribution which is estimated both parametrically and semi-parametrically. Methods to control for unobserved heterogeneity among workers are also used. Productivity profiles are then constructed from the resulting parameter estimates. Results suggest that productivity profiles were increasing concave functions of worker tenure. Cette étude utilise le lien naturel qui existe entre les salaire observés et la productivité des travailleurs lorsque les travailleurs sont payés à la pièce afin d'estimer les profils de productivité des travailleurs. Quand les travailleurs sont payés à la pièce, les salaires observés sont une fonction des paramètres du système de compensation et du niveau d'effort des travailleurs. L'identification de la productivité des travailleurs nécessite la séparation de ces deux effets dans les données. Ceci peut être accompli en modélisant la relation principal-agent qui existe entre la firme et le travailleur tout en trouvant les règles de comportement optimal de l'effort du travailleur. Cette approche est appliquée à des données de salaires historiques, colligées à partir des archives d'une mine en Colombie-Britannique. Les aspects importants de la technologie de la mine sont incorporés dans le modèle, ie. l'asymétrie d'information qui existe entre la firme et les travailleurs, la production en équipe et les travailleurs hétérogènes. Le modèle est résolu pour le niveau d'effort du travailleur en équilibre. Celui-ci implique une distribution de salaires censorés qui est estimée de façon paramétrique et semi-paramétrique tout en contrôlant pour l'hétérogénéité inobservable des travailleurs. Les profils de productivité sont construits à partir des paramètres estimés. Les résultats suggèrent que les profils de productivité étaient des fonctions croissantes et concaves de l'ancienneté du travai, Modèle du principal-agent ; Productivité de travail; Système de prime; Modèle de régression censorée ; Estimations semi-paramétriques