A mobile application is typically divided into two sides that communicate with each other: the front-end (i.e. what the user can see and interact with on the phone) and the back-end (the hidden ”server” side, which processes requests from the front-end). Ways to improve their production cycle are constantly investigated by corporations such as Applidium, which is a French startup company specialized in mobile applications. For instance, the firm often has to deal with external back-ends that are not properly documented, which makes the development of products intricate. Furthermore, test and documentation files for certain parts of projects are manually written, which is time consuming, and are all largely based on the same information (back-end descriptions). Hence, this information frequently finds itself scattered in different files, sometimes in different versions. Having identified issues that most regularly disrupt the work of the company’s employees, a certain number of goals to solve these are set, such as, notably, centralizing all back-end-related information into one authoritative source, and automatizing the generation of test and documentation files. A tool (in the form of a web application) allowing users to describe back-ends, called Pericles, is then proposed as the outcome of the master thesis, to deal with the described problems and materialize the defined objectives. Finally, a qualitative evaluation is performed through a questionnaire designed to assess how users feel the tool helps them in their work, which constitutes the metric for this project. The evaluation suggests that the implemented tool is relevant with respect to the fixed goals, and allows to infer its propensity to help Applidium’s developers and project managers by making the development and validation of projects easier.

As humans we are not stuck in an everlasting present. Instead, we can project ourselves into both our personal past and future. Remembering the past and simulating the future are strongly interrelated processes. They are both supported by largely the same brain regions including the rostral and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) but also the hippocampus, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), as well as other regions in the parietal and temporal cortices. Interestingly, this core network for episodic simulation and episodic memory partially overlaps with a brain network for evaluation and value-based decision making. This is particularly the case for the mPFC. This part of the brain has been associated both with a large number of different cognitive functions ranging from the representation of memory schemas and self-referential processing to the representation of value and affect. As a consequence, a unifying account of mPFC functioning has remained elusive. The present thesis investigates the unique contribution of the mPFC to episodic simulation by highlighting its role in the representation of memory schemas and value. In a first functional MRI and pre-registered behavioral replication study, we demonstrate that the mPFC encodes representations of known people as well as of known locations from participants’ everyday life. We demonstrate that merely imagined encounters with liked vs. disliked people at these locations can change our attitude toward the locations. The magnitude of this simulation-induced attitude change was predicted by activation in the mPFC during the simulations. Specifically, locations simulated with liked people exhibited significantly larger increases in liking than those simulated with disliked people. In a second behavioral study, we examined the mechanisms of simulation-based learning more closely. To this end, participants also simulated encounters with neutral people at neutral locations. Using repeated behavioral assessments of participants’ memory representations, we reveal that simulations cause an integration of memory representations for jointly simulated people and locations. Moreover, compared to the neutral baseline condition we demonstrate a transfer of positive valence from liked and of negative valence from disliked people to their paired locations. We also provide evidence that simulations induce an affective experience that aligns with the valence of the person and that this experience can account for the observed attitude change toward the location. In a final fMRI study, we examine the structure of memory representations encoded in the mPFC. Specifically, we provide evidence for the hypothesis that the mPFC encodes schematic representations of our social and physical environment. We demonstrate that representations of individual exemplars of these environments (i.e., individual people and locations) are closely intertwined with a representation of their value. In sum, our findings show that we can learn from imagined experience much as we learn from actual past experience and that the mPFC plays a key role in simulation-based learning. The mPFC encodes information about our environment in value-weighted schematic representations. These representations can account for the overlap of mnemonic and evaluative functions in the mPFC and might play a key role in simulation-based learning. Our results are in line with a view that our memories of the past serve us in ways that are oriented toward the future. Our ability to simulate potential scenarios allows us to anticipate the future consequences of our choices and thereby fosters farsighted decision making. Thus, our findings help to better characterize the functional role of the mPFC in episodic future simulation and valuation.

Most existing concepts in data warehousing provide a central database system storing gathered raw data and redundantly computed materialized views. While in current system architectures client tools are sending queries to a central data warehouse system and are only used to graphically present the result, the steady rise in power of personal computers and the expansion of network bandwidth makes it possible to store replicated parts of the data warehouse at the client thus saving network bandwidth and utilizing local computing power. Within such a scenario a - potentially mobile - client does not need to be connected to a central server while performing local analyses. Although this scenario seems attractive, several problems arise by introducing such an architecture: For example schema data could be changed or new fact data could be available. This paper is focusing on the first problem and presents ideas on how changed schema data can be detected and efficiently synchronized between client and server exploiting the special needs and requirements of data warehousing.

Research has unearthed an abundance of objectification and hypersexualization of female characters within video games. However, the recurring element of the damsel in distress trope is also harmful to the medium. This cliché of a helpless princess in need of a man to save her is a recurring element of The Legend of Zelda series. This experimental design tested the effects of a prototypical œsave the princess mission on players agreement to sexist statements on gender roles, objectification, and female dependency, and examined the factors of self-efficacy and gamer status as potential mediators. Participants played a modified version of a classic Legend of Zelda game, where the genders of the hero protagonist and damsel are manipulated. This 2 x 2 study included male and female heroes rescuing male and female victims in the four different cells. Immediately following the experiment, participants then took a post-test survey to gauge if there was any difference on their agreement to sexist statements. These results were also compared to their previous responses on their self-efficacy scores and their gamer status.

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Today, data warehouses are used to store large amounts of data. This thesis investigates the impact of various database schema designs on query execution time within the cloud platform Azure Data Explorer. As Azure Data Explorer is a relatively new platform, limited research exists on designing database schemas within the platform. Further, the design of the database schema has a direct impact on the query execution times. The design should also align with the use case of the data warehouse. This thesis conducts a requirements analysis, determines the use case, and designs three database schemas. The three database schemas are implemented and evaluated through a performance test. Schema 1 is designed to utilize results tables from stored functions, while schema 2 utilizes sub-functions divided by different departments or products to minimize the data accessed per query. Finally, schema 3 uses the results tables from the sub-functions found in schema 2. The result from the performance tests shows that schema 3 has the best overall improvement in query execution time compared to the other designs and the original design. The findings emphasize the critical role of database schema design in influencing query performance. Additionally, a conclusion is reached that using more than one approach to enhance query performance increases the potential query performance.