The simplicity principle posits that we interpret sense data as the simplest consistent distal cause, or that our high level perceptual representations of stimuli are optimized for simplicity. The traditional paradigm used to test this principle is coding theory, where alternate representations of stimuli are constructed, simplicity is measured as shortness of representation length, and behavioural experiments attempt to show that the shortest representations correspond best to perception. In this study we apply coding theory to marker-based human walking motion. We compare two representation schemes. The first is based on marker coordinates in a body-centred Cartesian coordinate system. The second is based on a model of 15 rigid body segments with Euler angles and a Cartesian translation for each. Both of our schemes are principal component (PC)-based implementations of a norm-based multidimensional object space – a type of model for high level perceptual schemes that has received attention in the literature over the past two decades. Representation length is quantified as number of retained PC’s, with error increasing with discarded PC’s. We generalize simplicity to efficiency measured as error across all possible lengths, where more efficient schemes admit less error across lengths. We find that the Cartesian coordinates-based scheme is more efficient than the Euler angles and translations-based scheme across a database of 100 walkers. In order to link this finding to perception we turn to the caricature effect that subjects can identify caricatures of familiar stimuli more accurately than veridicals. Our design was to compare walker caricatures generated in our two schemes in the hope of finding that one gives caricatures that benefit identification more than the other, from which we would conclude the former to be a better model of the true perceptual scheme. However, we find that analogous caricatures between the two schemes are only distinguishable at caricature levels so extreme that identification performance breaks down, so our design became infeasible and no conclusion for a simplicity principle in walker perception is reached. We also measure a curve of increasing then decreasing identification performance with caricature level and an optimal level at approximately double the distinctiveness of a typical walker. / Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-10-29 19:16:39.943

Software evolvability, meeting the future requirements of the customer is one of the emerging challenges which software industry is facing nowadays. Software evolvability is the ability of software system to accommodate future requirements. Studies have shown that software evolvability has large economic benefits but at the same time it’s difficult to assess. Over the time many methods have been derived to assess the software evolvability. Software evolvability depends upon various characteristics of the software system. In this paper we will discuss different characteristics of the software systems on which software evolvability depends. We will also have a look on hierarchy of these characteristics based on their role in the evolvability of software system. Moreover we will find out that what level of qualifications is appropriate for an expert to assess the software evolvability of a software system / Software evolvability plays an important role in the software life cycle. It is ease with which software system can be modified for future requirements. There are different methods for assessing the software evolvability. Mainly, structural measures; expert assessment and combined approach. Structural approach focus on the class level measures i.e. inheritance, modularity, coupling etc. Whereas, the expert assessment approach utilizes experts opinion regarding the software system i.e. how much it is evolvable? Combined approach is a combination of structural measures and expert assessment. According to David E. Peercy software evolvability depends upon six factors i.e. modularity, descriptiveness, consistency, simplicity, expandability and instrumentation. However, David A. Sunday considered five factors which are modularity, descriptiveness, consistency, testability and changeability. Moreover, there are other factors which also influence the software evolvability i.e. skills and qualification of the maintainer, organizational support to evolvability and characteristics of the methods being used for maintenance. The importance of research methodology can't be neglected because it gives us thought about our research before start. It has a positive impact on research. We are able to understand the structure of our work and have rough idea about research procedure. Our research methodology on theme evolvability of software systems is consistent of few steps. These steps are literature review, informal discussions and then development of a questionnaire. Subsequently questionnaire is distributed to the subjects and conclusions are drawn, based on their feedback and analysis of results. We visited different software houses and discussed all the factors related to the survey. Experienced and qualified professionals were selected as subjects. To get the survey feedback we made phone calls, email reminders and personal meetings. Which result in high survey response i.e. 75%. Questionnaire was designed into three parts namely as personal information, characteristics of software evolvability and qualifications required for an expert. Pre-test was also designed to assure that the questions for the survey were properly defined and participants had no difficulty in understanding them. Participants of the survey included software developers, team leads, software testers and research students. Special consideration was given to the ethical issues in design and conduction of survey. We discussed about the response behavior of the participants analysis of the data we collected from survey. Analysis was conducted by different means like standard deviation, mean, medium, mode and variance in survey results. First part of the analysis is about what characteristics of the software which effect software evolvability and their priority. In this part we concluded that there are total eleven characteristics of the software evolvability out of which design and architecture is highly prioritized while technical platform and comments are least prioritized characteristics. In the second part of the analysis we concluded that technical training and quality assurance management experience are most important criteria for an expert while development experience and testing experience is least important In the last part of the thesis we discussed the research work, validity assessment of results and answers to the questions. We used A Lincoln‘s and Cuba’s criterion for validation assessment to support the validity of results. Validity is judged by four aspects credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability.

This thesis is devoted to detect motion and it is focused on energy consumption. The introduction involves possible ways for acceleration measuring and discusses The MEMS technology in accelerometers. It also describes components used in a low-power module and some suggestions leading to resolution of this issue. This thesis includes the module design as well, PCB design and software equipment. Finally, it evaluates the results and the solution accuracy.

We often speak of our society as a consumption society, a label that emerged after World War II. But the consumption society dates back longer than that, and can be deduced as far back as the colonialist era and the rise of luxury goods. One could say that the consumption society is the cultural answer to the transfer of the economy into capitalism as well as a consequence of industrial mass production. Swedes’ consumption habits negatively affect the environment, being part of the wealthiest 20% of the world’s population that stands for more than three-quarters of total private consumption. More and more people consciously change their lifestyle into consuming less. This aversion from the capitalistic consumer society has been around for quite some time but continues to grow stronger. But how does these voluntary non-consumers experience the city that they live in? With major cities today being so focused around an ever-increasing consumption, this study aims to find out how Swedish non-consumers experience the city of Stockholm by the use of qualitative interviews. The empirical result shows that the interviewed non-consumers primarily choose their lifestyle due to environmental concerns, and that they feel that Stockholm is too centered on consumption, not having enough mixed areas, and that they are missing greenery and cultural activities in the city. Non-consumers seem to influence friends and family to adopt a more sustainable consumption habit, something that could be useful for the further development of a more environmentally friendly and sustainable consumption behavior in Sweden. / Vi talar ofta om vårt samhälle som ett konsumtionssamhälle, ett uttryck som dök upp efter andra världskrigets slut. Men konsumtionssamhället är äldre än så och kan härledas till kolonialismen och ökningen av lyxvaror. Man kan säga att dagens konsumtionssamhälle är ett kulturellt svar på omställningen av ekonomin till kapitalism, liksom en konsekvens av den industriella massproduktionen. Svenskar är en del av världspopulationens rikaste 20 %, som står för mer än tre fjärdedelar av total privat konsumtion, vilket har en negativ miljöpåverkan. Fler och fler människor förändrar medvetet sin livsstil till att konsumera mindre. Det här avståndstagandet från det kapitalistiska konsumtionssamhället har funnits länge, men fortsätter att växa sig starkare. Men hur upplever dessa frivilliga icke-konsumenter staden de bor i? Med större städers fokus idag kring en evigt växande konsumtion, syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur svenska icke-konsumenter upplever Stockholm, med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer. Det empiriska resultatet visar att de intervjuade icke-konsumenterna framförallt valt sin livsstil på grund av miljömedvetenhet, och att de upplever att Stockholm är för centrerat kring konsumtion och inte har tillräckligt med blandområden. De saknar även grönska och kulturella aktiviteter i staden. Icke-konsumenter verkar influera vänner och familj till att välja ett mer hållbart konsumtionsmönster, något som kan vara användbart för en fortsatt utveckling av ett mer miljövänlig och hållbart konsumtionsbeteende i Sverige.

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Rudyard Kipling is a man of immense diversity. He successfully managed to write for over half a century in a variety of genres: short story, travelogue, ballad, personal narrative, and news reporting, to name only a few. While doing so, Kipling readily interacted with a range of subjects and created a multitude of ideas. Likewise, on a personal level, Kipling led an immensely diverse life. He could easily claim four separate continents as home, living variously in India, the United States, England, and South Africa. By profession he was a writer, but as an observer he was so skilled that he learned by heart a variety of professions ranging from street beggar to statesman. Both before and after his life, this variety and complexity has been a subject of debate. Some ignore it, others focus on a particular side of it, but for all it represents an interesting challenge in both studying and classifying Kipling. This thesis seeks to address that challenge by focusing on how Kipling's varying and competing images and ideas work together to assert Kipling's independence. In doing so, this work will look specifically at how Kipling uses multifaceted techniques in his public speeches. In looking at the speeches, the thesis explores three ways in which multiplicity reinforces independence: the combination of privacy and creation, the refashioning of expert detail and self-image, and the fusion of simplistic structure and subtle complexity.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka lärare samt studenters distanserade gruppdiskussioner inuti Zoom’s funktion breakout-rooms, samt hur studenternas engagemang följaktligen har påverkats. Studien är grundad i tre semistrukturerade fokusgrupper gjorda med studenter samt lärare med erfarenhet av distanserade gruppdiskussioner inuti breakout-rooms. Utifrån det empiriska materialet från fokusgrupperna framgår det tydligt att respondenterna till en stor del fokuserar på funktionalitet, flexibilitet samt sociala relationer och kameraanvändlighet. Utifrån det empiriska materialet framgår det att det funnits förmåner i form av en enkelhet och smidighet för lärarrespondenterna att utforma gruppdiskussioner, samt flexibiliteten som gett studenterna en ökad frihet. Emellertid framgår det utifrån studentrespondenterna att uppfattningen av distanseringen grundar sig i försämrad kommunikation med lärare och studenter, svårigheter i form av distraktioner samt en försämrad relation till sina klasskamrater, vilket följaktnings har påverkat studenternas engagemang negativt. / The purpose of the study is to examine teachers' and students' distant group discussions within Zoom's function breakout rooms, and how the students' involvement has consequently been affected. The study is based on three semi-structured focus groups made with students and teachers with experience of distant group discussions inside breakout rooms. Based on the empirical material from the focus groups, it is clear that the respondents largely focus on functionality, flexibility as well as social relations and camera usability. Based on the empirical material, it appears that there have been benefits in the form of a simplicity and flexibility for the teacher respondents to design group discussions, as well as the flexibility that has given the students increased freedom. However, it appears from the student respondents that the perception of distancing is based on impaired communication with teachers and students, difficulties in the form of distractions and a deteriorating relationship with their classmates, which consequently has affected students' commitment negatively.

A pesquisa é voltada para o estudo da obra de Saul Steinberg, com enfoque nas contribuições de sua produção para o desenvolvimento do cartum moderno e das artes gráficas. Para tanto, busca sistematizar a vida e obra de Steinberg (1914-1999), com ênfase nas transformações ocorridas em seu trabalho no decorrer de sua carreira, relacionando-as ao conjunto de sua produção, ao contexto histórico e à produção das artes gráficas - cartum, ilustração, desenho gráfico. O trabalho busca desenvolver uma análise do desenho do artista, partindo da hipótese de seu caráter moderno - baseado em síntese e simplicidade. É intenção desta pesquisa, também, contribuir com o mapeamento de parte da história das artes gráficas do Brasil e do mundo, neste caso privilegiando a produção gráfica moderna do século XX. / The research deals with the study of the work of Saul Steinberg, with focus in the contributions of his work to the development of the modern cartoon and graphic arts. It tries to systematize the life and work of Steinberg (1914-1999), with emphasis in the transformations occured in his work, related to his whole production, to the historial context, and to the production of the graphic arts. The research tries to develop an analysis of the Steinberg´s drawing, taking into consideration the hypothesis of its modern particularity - established in synthesis and simplicity. Is an intention of this research to contribute with the mapping of part of the graphic art history of Brazil and the world, focusing in the graphic modern production of the 20th century.

A pesquisa é voltada para o estudo da obra de Saul Steinberg, com enfoque nas contribuições de sua produção para o desenvolvimento do cartum moderno e das artes gráficas. Para tanto, busca sistematizar a vida e obra de Steinberg (1914-1999), com ênfase nas transformações ocorridas em seu trabalho no decorrer de sua carreira, relacionando-as ao conjunto de sua produção, ao contexto histórico e à produção das artes gráficas - cartum, ilustração, desenho gráfico. O trabalho busca desenvolver uma análise do desenho do artista, partindo da hipótese de seu caráter moderno - baseado em síntese e simplicidade. É intenção desta pesquisa, também, contribuir com o mapeamento de parte da história das artes gráficas do Brasil e do mundo, neste caso privilegiando a produção gráfica moderna do século XX. / The research deals with the study of the work of Saul Steinberg, with focus in the contributions of his work to the development of the modern cartoon and graphic arts. It tries to systematize the life and work of Steinberg (1914-1999), with emphasis in the transformations occured in his work, related to his whole production, to the historial context, and to the production of the graphic arts. The research tries to develop an analysis of the Steinberg´s drawing, taking into consideration the hypothesis of its modern particularity - established in synthesis and simplicity. Is an intention of this research to contribute with the mapping of part of the graphic art history of Brazil and the world, focusing in the graphic modern production of the 20th century.

Cette étude souhaite contribuer à une meilleure connaissance et compréhension de l’idée de simplicité divine, qui signifie l’absence en Dieu de toute composition. Pièce centrale de la pensée théologique médiévale, elle fut redécouverte il y a 35 ans par des philosophes de tendance analytique, qui en contestèrent la cohérence. Elle est depuis lors l’objet d’un débat philosophique fourni, mais le détour par l’histoire de la philosophie est nécessaire pour dégager le réseau de concepts, d’arguments et de problèmes qui lui donne sens. Après avoir étudié la première élaboration de cette idée dans les textes antiques et patristiques, puis son traitement par Pierre Lombard à la veille du IVe concile de Latran de 1215, qui intègre pour la première fois la simplicité divine dans une profession de foi authentique du magistère, nous nous concentrons sur les œuvres de Bonaventure de Bagnoregio et de Thomas d’Aquin, qui accordent à cet attribut divin un rôle fondateur dans leur étude du mystère de Dieu. L’idée de simplicité divine s’y trouve sans cesse prise dans la dialectique de la ressemblance et de la dissemblance entre Créateur et créature. Tandis que Thomas associe de façon unilatérale la simplicité absolue à la transcendance de l’incréé, Bonaventure propose également des similitudes créées de la simplicité divine qui en favorisent l’intuition. Loin d’apparaître comme incohérente, l’idée de simplicité divine est un outil puissant pour ouvrir notre intelligence à un plan de réalité supérieur, certes mystérieux, mais néanmoins lumineux. / This study seeks to contribute to a better understanding and comprehension of the idea of divine simplicity, which means the absence in God of any composition. Cornerstone of medieval theological thinking, divine simplicity was rediscovered 35 years ago by philosophers of analytical leanings, who challenged its coherence. It has since formed the subject of abundant philosophical debate, however, the detour via the history of philosophy is necessary in order to draw out the network of concepts, arguments and issues, from where divine simplicity derives its meaning. After the study of the first development of this idea in ancient and patristic texts, and its treatment by Peter Lombard on the eve of the 4th Council of Lateran in 1215, which integrates for the first time divine simplicity in a genuin profession of faith of the magisterium, we shall focus on the works of Bonaventure of Bagnoregio and Thomas Aquinas, who grant this divine attribute a founding role in the study of the mystery of God. The idea of divine simplicity keeps being comprised in the dialectics of similarity and dissimilarity between Creator and creature. While Aquinas associates in an unilateral way absolute simplicity and transcendence of the uncreated, Bonaventure offers also created resemblances of divine simplicity which favour its intuition. Far from appearing incoherent, the idea of divine simplicity is a powerful means to open our minds to a level of superior reality, indeed mysterious, but nevertheless radiant.