Neuroethology, Computational

Over the past decade, a number of neural network researchers have used the term computational neuroethology to describe a specific approach to neuroethology. Neuroethology is the study of the neural mechanisms underlying the generation of behavior in animals, and hence it lies at the intersection of neuroscience (the study of nervous systems) and ethology (the study of animal behavior); for an introduction to neuroethology, see Simmons and Young (1999). The definition of computational neuroethology is very similar, but is not quite so dependent on studying animals: animals just happen to be biological autonomous agents. But there are also non-biological autonomous agents such as some types of robots, and some types of simulated embodied agents operating in virtual worlds. In this context, autonomous agents are self-governing entities capable of operating (i.e., coordinating perception and action) for extended periods of time in environments that are complex, uncertain, and dynamic. Thus, computational neuroethology can be characterised as the attempt to analyze the computational principles underlying the generation of behavior in animals and in artificial autonomous agents

Public sector employment in Scotland [June 2012]

Industrial action over proposals to change pension and related conditions continued in the public sector and widened with industrial action planned by the BMA. In 2008 doctors had agreed to changes which meant they would work longer, increase their contributions to their pensions and accept the risk of increased contributions in the future – they believe this agreement has been ignored in recent changes. Public sector employment in Scotland continues to decline. The latest data at the time of writing this section (Q4 2011) indicates that there were 586,600 (553,000 excluding public sector financial institutions) employed in the public sector in Scotland, a decrease of 23,800 (3.9%) over the year. Employment in the devolved public sector declined by 19,100 (3.7%) to 490,400, due mainly to a decline in local government employment (down 12,000 over the year)

Differential labour and competitive advantage : embedding resource-based theory within Marx's labour theory of value

School of Managemen

Overview of the labour market [November 2012]

Inevitably interest in the Scottish labour market continues to focus on the levels and trends in employment and unemployment and again we return to these themes. In addition the UK Government proposals to reform public sector terms and conditions of employment have emerged (see the Public Sector employment section of this Commentary). The employment law proposals emanating from in the Beecroft Report continued to surface at the recent Conservative Party conference (see the February and June issues of the Commentary)

'Technologists' alongside : impact on student understandings in technology : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This research focuses on ascertaining the impact of technologists working alongside students; in particular the influence their involvement has on their understandings of and about Technology. The research was conducted within an interpretive paradigm. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using a mixed methods approach which consisted of a written questionnaire, followed by purposive interviews. The participants in the study were students in years 11 and 12 in 2005. Data from these participants were also gathered in 2006. The research findings identified that when students work alongside a technologist(s) to resolve problems embedded within real-life contexts, their concepts of technology and its purpose are enhanced. These findings also highlighted the importance of ensuring that student learning intentions (those learning outcomes which are planned) are shared between all parties involved in the learning environment (teachers, practicing technologists and students), so that interactions between students and technologists have a positive influence on student learning. This research concludes that the involvement of practicing technologists, in student learning in technology education, offers the potential to enhance student's technological practice and their learning in technology generally

hpDJ: An automated DJ with floorshow feedback

Many radio stations and nightclubs employ Disk-Jockeys (DJs) to provide a continuous uninterrupted stream or “mix” of dance music, built from a sequence of individual song-tracks. In the last decade, commercial pre-recorded compilation CDs of DJ mixes have become a growth market. DJs exercise skill in deciding an appropriate sequence of tracks and in mixing 'seamlessly' from one track to the next. Online access to large-scale archives of digitized music via automated music information retrieval systems offers users the possibility of discovering many songs they like, but the majority of consumers are unlikely to want to learn the DJ skills of sequencing and mixing. This paper describes hpDJ, an automatic method by which compilations of dance-music can be sequenced and seamlessly mixed by computer, with minimal user involvement. The user may specify a selection of tracks, and may give a qualitative indication of the type of mix required. The resultant mix can be presented as a continuous single digital audio file, whether for burning to CD, or for play-out from a personal playback device such as an iPod, or for play-out to rooms full of dancers in a nightclub. Results from an early version of this system have been tested on an audience of patrons in a London nightclub, with very favourable results. Subsequent to that experiment, we designed technologies which allow the hpDJ system to monitor the responses of crowds of dancers/listeners, so that hpDJ can dynamically react to those responses from the crowd. The initial intention was that hpDJ would monitor the crowd’s reaction to the song-track currently being played, and use that response to guide its selection of subsequent song-tracks tracks in the mix. In that version, it’s assumed that all the song-tracks existed in some archive or library of pre-recorded files. However, once reliable crowd-monitoring technology is available, it becomes possible to use the crowd-response data to dynamically “remix” existing song-tracks (i.e, alter the track in some way, tailoring it to the response of the crowd) and even to dynamically “compose” new song-tracks suited to that crowd. Thus, the music played by hpDJ to any particular crowd of listeners on any particular night becomes a direct function of that particular crowd’s particular responses on that particular night. On a different night, the same crowd of people might react in a different way, leading hpDJ to create different music. Thus, the music composed and played by hpDJ could be viewed as an “emergent” property of the dynamic interaction between the computer system and the crowd, and the crowd could then be viewed as having collectively collaborated on composing the music that was played on that night. This en masse collective composition raises some interesting legal issues regarding the ownership of the composition (i.e.: who, exactly, is the author of the work?), but revenue-generating businesses can nevertheless plausibly be built from such technologies

Overview of the labour market [June 2011]

Inevitably current interest in the Scottish labour market continues to focus on the trends in both employment and unemployment figures, a theme developed in other sections of this edition. Public interest continues to focus on public sector employment trends and for a further issue we return to these themes. Of interest is the impact of patterns and behaviour of immigrants to and emigrants from Scotland on recent employment patterns, and initially recent findings are considered

Overview of the labour market [March 2011]

Inevitably current interest in the Scottish labour market continues to focus on the trends in both employment and unemployment figures and the emerging differences in the patterns of full and part time employment, a theme developed in other sections of this edition. Public interest continues to focus on public sector employment trends and pay and for a further issue we return to these themes. Over the past months there have been a number of developments, most notably a focus on training issues and possible changes to employment tribunals

Public sector employment in Scotland [March 2013]

Inevitably interest focusses on the recent trends in public sector employment; however, the themes of cuts, capacity and targets are indicative of more significant current and medium term issues affecting the public sector. Cuts in staffing and capacity (a 30% reduction in staff and loss of experienced managers) were seen as a contributory reason for the failures by the Department of Transport‟s West Coast rail franchise, as contributing to the failure to pick up the recent food contamination (Local Authorities in England collected some 21% fewer samples in 2011 – 2012 compared to earlier years), and underpinning concerns as to the reduced levels of fire service cover in London. The impact of cuts, capacity and targets on standards of care were highlighted in the publication the Francis Report (The final report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry) and we return to this later

Water Concerns Unite Citizen Activists:A Community Rights Movement Transcends Party, Age, and Gender

In this brief, author Cliff Brown examines an instance of sustained local activism in which citizens in the communities of Nottingham, Barrington, and Barnstead, New Hampshire, mobilized to protect community groundwater against threats from commercial use. Beginning in 2001, USA Springs commenced work on a large water-bottling operation that would have pumped over 400,000 gallons daily from Nottingham and Barrington. Activists fought back through state agencies and the courts, engaging in a lengthy campaign that involved petitioning, lobbying, community meetings, rallies, public protests, and a State Supreme Court case. Brown reports that threats to community water precipitate a high level of concern and activism, even among those lacking prior experience with environmental or political protest. The campaign to protect local water united residents from across the political spectrum, distinguishing the effort from other movements that tend to speak to distinctly liberal or conservative constituencies. Barnstead’s first-in-the-nation prohibition on corporate water privatization and the passage of similar bans in other New Hampshire towns suggest that rights-based ordinances, though sometimes controversial, provide a focal point for activism that meshes well with a tradition of local, town-based politics