181 research outputs found
Modelling state in mind and machine
No full textThis paper discusses and illustrates the application of Empirical Modelling (EM), as developed by the author and his collaborators, to computer programming. The discussion centres on the perspective EM gives on procedural and experiential vs. declarative and logical approaches to knowledge representation. The illustration focuses on demonstrating the potential for pedagogical use of EM in teaching algorithms. It is based on a family of practical models that have been developed to teach the principles of heapsort
Radical empiricism, empirical modelling and the nature of knowing
No full textThis paper explores connections between Radical Empiricism (RE), a philosophic attitude developed by William James at the beginning of the 20th century, and Empirical Modelling (EM), an approach to computer- based modelling that has been developed by the author and his collaborators over a number of years. It focuses in particular on how both RE and EM promote a perspective on the nature of knowing that is radically different from that typically invoked in contemporary approaches to knowledge representation in computing. This is illustrated in detail with reference to the modelling of several scenarios of lift use. Some potential implications for knowledge management are briefly reviewed
Cadence and the empirical modelling conceptual framework : a new perspective on modelling state-as-experienced
No full textThe aspiration in Empirical Modelling (EM) is to build artefacts for sense-making ("construals") that exhibit interactive characteristics similar to those observed in the situation to which they refer. The relation between an artefact and its referent is established through constructing a close correspondence between dependencies, observables and instances of agent action. Specifically, different kinds of agent interaction with the referent have counterparts in the model that are recognisably congruent in that they disclose similar dependencies between observables. The full elaboration of this notion lies beyond the scope of this paper - it has been a central theme of the EM project as documented at www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/modelling. A crucial aspect of the approach is the emphasis that is placed upon the experiential nature of the correspondence between an artefact and its referent. This represents a radical departure from the conventional functional and operational manner in which a computer program is interpreted. It means that the interpretation of an artefact is open and fluid. For instance, it is subject to evolve over time (e.g. "facility in recognising dependencies can be learned"), can be dependent on the observer (e.g. "relationships can only be discerned if the observer isn't colour-blind"), and on the specific situation within which interaction and observation is being conducted (e.g. "whether changes to observables can be identified may depend on the level of lighting"). To date, the typical approach to EM has been to exploit modelling with definitive scripts (MWDS) as supported by the EDEN interpreter. This approach has limitations with practical and conceptual consequences. The Cadence environment, as developed by the second author, offers an alternative framework - as yet less thoroughly explored - for supporting EM. This report discusses the impact that Cadence has had in exposing problematic ways in which MWDS has biased the conception and practice of EM, and the extent to which developing Cadence can help to redress this bias
QconCAT method development and applications in proteomics
No full textQuantitative data is an excellent resource in any proteomics study but is essential in many. In recent years this area has expanded from relative to absolute quantification with a wide range of methods available for absolute quantitative proteomics. In general protein quantification is based on either label-mediated or label-free strategies. Common label-mediated approaches are isotope dilution strategies, such as AQUA, coupled with mass spectrometry, where analyte signal is compared to a stable isotope labelled standard added in known abundance. These methods are suited to small-scale studies but increasing demand for large-scale proteome quantification exposed the need for alternative quantification methodologies. The QconCAT technology, first published in 2005, is a label mediated approach which utilises the principle of surrogacy to quantify analyte proteins based on a signature peptide, or peptides, for each protein. QconCATs are concatenations of quantotypic peptides for a group of proteins, the QconCAT gene is designed in silico and expressed heterologously in E.coli with [13C6]arg and [13C6]lys to elicit a stable isotope labelled multiplexed absolute quantification standard.
In this thesis I describe several developments to the QconCAT production protocol. These developments reduce the production time from ~19d, using the initial method, to less than 7d. Time gains have been made across the whole workflow in the areas of protein expression, cell lysis, and product purification. Moreover verification of the QconCAT is delayed until the final product is synthesised, made possible by evidence of high quality reproducible expression. I explain how these alterations allow for production of several QconCATs in parallel, giving added efficiency. The success of the method is demonstrated through the use of multiple QconCATs. As a result of this work it is now possible to make at least eight QconCATs per week and the rate-limiting step of the quantification workflow has migrated from standard preparation to data processing. The final study in this thesis discusses methods for accurate quantification of the QconCAT protein and additional applications of QconCATs for testing mass spectrometer performance
Edge of centre: Australian cities and the public architecture of recent immigrant communities
No full textIn the late 1990s, the author undertook a survey of the public architecture of non-western immigrant communities in Melbourne (Beynon 2002). The survey was undertaken within a social context of rapid recent growth in non-Western immigration to Australian cities, coupled with a political context where at state and local level Australian governments were engaged in managing cultural diversity through multiculturalist policies. By the late 1990s, the number of overseas-born, or with overseas-born parentage, had become almost 40% of Australia's total population (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998-89). Substantial numbers of such immigrants originated from outside the 'West'. Compared to other Australian cities, Melbourne had at the time of the survey the largest communities of certain birthplace groups: notably Sri Lankans, Malaysians, Turks and Somalis. The purpose of this survey was to see to what extent Melbourne's diversifying demography had changed its architectural landscape, and more broadly, what such changes in the built environment indicated about Melbourne's (and by extension Australia's) cultural identity
Organizing Homeworkers: The Use of Mapping As An Organizing Tool
No full textIn this
article we document and discuss homeworker ‘mapping’ as an emerging
approach to organizing. Mapping was used by homeworker organizations to
organize unprotected workers in the unregulated informal sector where there has
been an exponential growth over the last two decades (Beneria, 2001; Beynon et
al., 2002; HWW, 2002; ILO, 2002b: 13). Within this sector, homeworkers are
one of the largest groups with Homenet (2001) estimating that there are 300
million homeworkers world wide. They are also among the most marginalized
of workers (HomeNet, 2001)
ARCA : a notation for displaying and manipulating combinatorial diagrams
No full textARCA is a programming notation which was originally developed with the computer animation of a class of diagrams studied by ARthur CAyley [sic] in mind. It is presented here as an archetypal example of a "definitive notation", in a sense explained in a previous paper by the author. This paper is an informal introduction to the principles of ARCA and the ARCA system, and includes some tutorial examples
Programming principles for the semantics of the semantics of programs
No full textFundamental concerns of relevance to programming are raised by Brian Smith. These focus on the relation that holds between a program and the world outside - the semantics of what is referred to by computer scientists as the semantics of the program. This paper explains how programming concepts developed by the author in collaboration with others may contribute to "a theoretical framework that does justice to practice" such as is discussed by Smith
Liberalism in Winnipeg, 1890s-1920s: Charles W. Gordon, John W. Dafoe, Minnie J.B. Campbell, and Francis M. Beynon
No full textDuring the first quarter of the twentieth century Canadians lived through, were shaped by, and informed the nature of a range of social transformations. Social historians have provided a wealth of information about important aspects of those transformations, particularly those of "ordinary" people. The purpose of this thesis is to provide further insight into these transitions by examining the lives and thoughts of a selection of those who occupied a comparatively privileged position within Canadian society in the early twentieth century. More specifically, the approach will be to examine four Winnipeg citizens - namely, Presbyterian minister and author Charles W. Gordon, newspaper editor John W. Dafoe, member of the Imperial Order Daughters of Empire Minnie J.B. Campbell, and women's page editor Francis M. Beynon. -- In examining these men and women, what becomes evident about elites and the social and cultural history of early twentieth-century Canada is that, despite their privileged standing, they did not arrive at "reasonable" assessments of the state of affairs in which they existed. Also, despite the fact that they and their associates were largely Protestant, educated Anglo-Canadians from Ontario, it is apparent that the men and women at the centre of this study suggest that there existed no consensus among elites about the proper goals of social change. Nevertheless, although their divergent experiences of the social order translated into a variety of aims and perspectives, what bound these people together was an acceptance of central liberal ideals and assumptions. That this broad concurrence existed, and that the men and women at the centre of this study were part of a community that could bring considerable politico-economic pressure to bear in seeking to realize their envisioned future, is significant. What is of particular importance is that, even though the social reality that came to exist was not exactly like that which any of these men and women envisioned, it was the broad commonalities running through their diverse imaginings that informed the overarching shape of social relationships in the post-World War I period in Canada.Bibliography: leaves.316-334
Interpretation/Translation/Quotation? Contemporary architects’ interventions into multicultural Australia
No full textOver the last forty years, Australian cultural identity has moved from being framed as loss - the tyranny of distance between an immigrant population and their mainly British origins - to one of surplus: an overabundance of identities of a hybridising/glocalising populace of diverse origins. Australia’s resultant landscapes comprise increasingly complex overlays of cultures and practices, particularly in the larger cities, where a diverse range of communities have created buildings and built environments. Even if facilitated in a pragmatic sense by architects, draftspeople and constructors, Australia’s growing number of ethnically-specific buildings continues to exist largely detached from the nation’s architectural profession, rarely being evident within its publications or awards systems. Within this context, the paper discusses two of the few instances where architects of note have designed works specific to multicultural Melbourne: Gregory Burgess’ Victoria Street Gateway in Richmond Victoria and Hassell’s Afghan Bazaar Cultural Precinct in Dandenong Victoria. In considering these projects, we focus on three of the many questions these projects raise about Melbourne’s (and more broadly Australia’s) architectural identity and the boundaries they blur between architectural and extra-architectural modes of working within the built environment: firstly, is the manner of these projects’ formal and aesthetic composition interpretation, translation or quotation? Secondly, are these projects marginal to the broader concerns of Melbourne architecture or are they central to a multiculture that will become more central to its architects in future? And finally, are the concerns of these projects new or are they more an updating of the postmodernist valorisation of the Australian suburb (as championed in the 1970s and 1980s by Edmond & Corrigan and others) in a manner that reflects the cultural differences now present within these suburbs
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