Memory architecture for efficient utilization of SDRAM: a case study of the computation/memory access trade-off

This paper discusses the trade-off between calculations and memory accesses in a 3D graphics tile renderer for visualization of data from medical scanners. The performance requirement of this application is a frame rate of 25 frames per second when rendering 3D models with 2 million triangles, i.e. 50 million triangles per second, sustained (not peak). At present, a software implementation is capable of 3-4 frames per second for a 1 million triangle model

Welfare in horse breeding

Welfare problems related to the way horses are bred, whether by coitus or by the application of artificial reproduction techniques (ARTs), have been given no discrete consideration within the academic literature. This paper reviews the existing knowledge base about welfare issues in horse breeding and identifies areas in which data is lacking. We suggest that all methods of horse breeding are associated with potential welfare problems, but also that the judicious use of ARTs can sometimes help to address those problems. We discuss how negative welfare effects could be identified and limited and how positive welfare effects associated with breeding might be maximised. Further studies are needed to establish an evidence base about how stressful or painful various breeding procedures are for the animals involved, and what the lifetime welfare implications of ARTs are for future animal generations

Designing for Learning in Coupled Contexts

Vocational training curricula are often designed as a progression of alternating periods of attending school and working as an apprentice in a company. In the case discussed in this paper, involving the training of electrician apprentices at a Danish vocational school, many of the apprentices (pupils) have difficulties understanding how the two modes of learning, i.e. formal learning by means of instruction and informal learning through apprenticeship, relate to one another and add up to a meaningful whole. This paper is an account of an experiment in designing for net-based vocational learning with the aim of providing a coupling between widely different learning contexts. The design approach is based on a user-focused quadruple helix model of understanding the learning situation. According to this model, knowledge institution, enterprise, and public authorities together and in shifting constellations provide a framework in which all actors assume roles that are multi-dimensional. The actual design process used is based on a recently-developed method for user-driven innovation, the "quadrant model", involving apprentices, teachers, and masters and journeymen from companies as active and equal co-creators of new didactic designs. Having initially acquired domain knowledge by means of observation and interviews with the various user groups, the researchers together with apprentices, teachers, masters and journeymen have developed a series of designs for new practices by means of workshops, prototyping, and testing. The final outcome has been three designs that facilitate communication between apprentice-and-apprentice, school-and-apprentice, and apprentice-and-master/journeyman. From the perspective of the apprentices, the three designs: a) facilitate community building; b) help bring the school into the practice environment; and c) encourage reflection on one's own practice. From the point of view of the school, the designs make it possible to extend formal learning to the workplace, and for masters/journeymen the designs offer an opportunity to supplement dreary routines of documentation with visualisations and reflections on practice. It is suggested that the designs are likely to result in an empowerment of the apprentices, and thus that in a wider perspective successful integration of the designs entail a need for adjusting existing practices in terms of assigning the learners a more active and responsible role as co-contributors to their own education

EquiFACS: the Equine Facial Action Coding System

Although previous studies of horses have investigated their facial expressions in specific contexts, e.g. pain, until now there has been no methodology available that documents all the possible facial movements of the horse and provides a way to record all potential facial configurations. This is essential for an objective description of horse facial expressions across a range of contexts that reflect different emotional states. Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS) provide a systematic methodology of identifying and coding facial expressions on the basis of underlying facial musculature and muscle movement. FACS are anatomically based and document all possible facial movements rather than a configuration of movements associated with a particular situation. Consequently, FACS can be applied as a tool for a wide range of research questions. We developed FACS for the domestic horse (Equus caballus) through anatomical investigation of the underlying musculature and subsequent analysis of naturally occurring behaviour captured on high quality video. Discrete facial movements were identified and described in terms of the underlying muscle contractions, in correspondence with previous FACS systems. The reliability of others to be able to learn this system (EquiFACS) and consistently code behavioural sequences was high—and this included people with no previous experience of horses. A wide range of facial movements were identified, including many that are also seen in primates and other domestic animals (dogs and cats). EquiFACS provides a method that can now be used to document the facial movements associated with different social contexts and thus to address questions relevant to understanding social cognition and comparative psychology, as well as informing current veterinary and animal welfare practices