Provably correct, asymptotically efficient, higher-order reverse-mode automatic differentiation

In this paper, we give a simple and efficient implementation of reverse-mode automatic differentiation, which both extends easily to higher-order functions, and has run time and memory consumption linear in the run time of the original program. In addition to a formal description of the translation, we also describe an implementation of this algorithm, and prove its correctness by means of a logical relations argument.

An Application for Aesthetic Quality Assessment in Photography with Interpretability Features

Automatic aesthetic quality assessment is a computer vision problem in which we quantify the attractiveness or the appealingness of a photograph. This is especially useful in social networks, where the amount of images generated each day requires automation for processing. This work presents Aesthetic Selector, an application able to identify images of high aesthetic quality, showing also relevant information about the decisions and providing the use of the most appropriate filters to enhance a given image. We then analyzed the main proposals in the aesthetic quality field, describing their strengths and weaknesses in order to determine the filters to be included in the application Aesthetic Selector. This proposed application was tested, giving good results, in three different scenarios: image selection, image finding, and filter selection. Besides, we carried out a study of distinct visualization tools to better understand the models’ behavior. These techniques also allow detecting which areas are more relevant within the images when models perform classification. The application also includes this interpretability module. Aesthetic Selector is an innovative and original program, because in the field of aesthetic quality in photography, there are no applications that identify high-quality images and also because it offers the capability of showing information about which parts of the image have affected this decision.

The Effectiveness of a Neighbor-to-Neighbor Get-Out-the-Vote Program: Evidence from the 2017 Virginia State Elections

We analyze the results of a neighbor-to-neighbor, grassroots get-out-the-vote (GOTV) drive in Virginia, in which unpaid volunteers were encouraged to contact at least three nearby registered voters who were likely co-partisans yet relatively unlikely to vote in the 2017 state election. To measure the campaign’s effectiveness, we used a pairwise randomization design whereby each volunteer was assigned to one randomly selected member of the most geographically proximate pair of voters. Because some volunteers unexpectedly signed up to participate outside their home districts, we analyze the volunteers who adhered to the original hyper-local program design separately from those who did not. We find that the volunteers in the original program design drove a statistically significant 2.3% increase in turnout, which was concentrated in the first voter pair assigned to each volunteer. We discuss implications for the study and design of future GOTV efforts.

Symbiotic 8: Parallel and Targeted Test Generation

The setup of Symbiotic 8 for Test-Comp 2021 brings radical changes in the test generation for property. Similarly as in Symbiotic 7, we generate tests by running our fork of symbolic executor Klee on the analyzed program. Symbiotic 8, however, runs several instances of Klee in parallel. We run one instance of Klee on the original program and, simultaneously, we create one (intentionally unsound) program slice for every program-terminating instruction in the program and run Klee on these slices. Apart from this principal change, we also improved other components of the tool, mainly the program slicer. Further, our fork of Klee now supports symbolic pointer arithmetics and comparison of symbolic addresses.

Contactless interfaces in virtual reality

This work presents the results research on interfaces enabling navigation in virtual reality. An original program presenting a typical museum gallery has been written. It implemented a number of different moving scenarios. The paper analyzes which of these methods is best for the user. The optimal speed was tested and determined, using the user feels comfortable and does not lose the sense of control over the program.

Examining Program Quality in a National Junior Golf Development Program

Golf Canada recently restructured its national junior golf development program, Learn to Play, going from an original curriculum that focused on teaching golf skills to an updated curriculum that integrates the teaching of golf and life skills. The purpose of the study was to examine whether there were differences in program quality through implementation of the original program compared with the updated program. Five coaches using the original program and nine coaches using the updated program took part in the study over an entire summer golf season. The 14 coaches (Mage = 40 years) were each systematically observed on three occasions (i.e., total of 42 observations) and completed an end-of-season program quality questionnaire. The data were subjected to descriptive statistical analyses. Results demonstrated that (a) coaches who implemented the updated program were observed fostering higher levels of program quality than coaches who implemented the original program and (b) researcher observation scores were significantly lower than coach questionnaire scores of program quality. Results are discussed to situate the influence of the updated program on markers of quality. Practical implications for coach education and explicit life skills curricula are discussed.

The program for the formation of physical education of students at the Pedagogical University

This article presents the author’s vision of the content of the formation of the student’s physical culture, which consists of three main areas: motivational, activity-related and cognitive. The purpose of the study: to develop an original program for the formation of students' physical education at a pedagogical university and experimentally prove the effectiveness of its implementation in practical activities. The scientific novelty of the author’s program is contained in its main blocks: mobile, theoretical, methodological and practical block. With the continuous impact of the innovations presented in the study by mobile technologies and traditional approaches, such as improving various teaching models, a higher level of formation of students' physical culture of the person was statistically reliably achieved. The results of the study contribute to improving the quality of education and, in general, the effectiveness of the training system for future teachers.

A Syntactic Operator for Forgetting that Satisfies Strong Persistence

Whereas the operation of forgetting has recently seen a considerable amount of attention in the context of Answer Set Programming (ASP), most of it has focused on theoretical aspects, leaving the practical issues largely untouched. Recent studies include results about what sets of properties operators should satisfy, as well as the abstract characterization of several operators and their theoretical limits. However, no concrete operators have been investigated.In this paper, we address this issue by presenting the first concrete operator that satisfies strong persistence – a property that seems to best capture the essence of forgetting in the context of ASP – whenever this is possible, and many other important properties. The operator is syntactic, limiting the computation of the forgetting result to manipulating the rules in which the atoms to be forgotten occur, naturally yielding a forgetting result that is close to the original program.

A program for conformity assessment of the calibration results with the specification

This paper describes the procedure for calculating the conformance probability of the results of the calibration with therequirements or specifications (standards or manufactures), including borderline cases. An original program created in Excel waspresented, which makes it easy to calculate in a Metrology Laboratory. During the development of this program, the recommendationsof the European Accreditation Team (EA), as well as the requirements of ISO / IEC 17025: 2017, were taken into account. The goal ofthis program is to provide the customer with a certificate of calibration with the declared uncertainty as well as the compliance of theresults of the calibration with the requirements or specifications. The program was developed for the needs of the MetrologyLaboratory, which is located in the company ORAO a.d. Bijeljina. The accreditation body at the accreditation examination of theMetrology Laboratory checked the results of the program. The international standard ISO 10576-1: 2003 describes the procedure forcalculating the conformance probability of the calibration results with the specification. According to the described procedure, eachcalibration result must first be graphically presented according to normal PDF (Gaussian distribution). Then, in order to determine theprobability of occurrence of any measured value, use the z-value and the standard surface tables below with normal PDF. In metrologylaboratories, this is a difficult and long-lasting process because the digital multimeter can be calibrated at even a hundred measuringpoints.

Morris’ Lost Pragmatics

The pragmatics envisaged by its founding father Charles Morris addresses issues of behavioral semiotics, of which multimodality and sign behavior are two building blocks. Decades of development in linguistic pragmatics has witnessed a continuous narrowing in scope. The narrowing reaps the benefit of sharp focus and in-depth research into some narrow topics. At the same time, it has resulted in some crucial areas, such as Umwelt, left barren. The paper first briefly reviews Morris’ envisaged pragmatics, which is argued to be essentially multimodal semiotic pragmatics in nature. Then it argues for embarking on Morris’ original program through reviewing researches, explicitly Morrisian or otherwise, that have already been converging toward this direction.