Frameworks, Tensegrities, and Symmetry

This introduction to the theory of rigid structures explains how to analyze the performance of built and natural structures under loads, paying special attention to the role of geometry. The book unifies the engineering and mathematical literatures by exploring different notions of rigidity - local, global, and universal - and how they are interrelated. Important results are stated formally, but also clarified with a wide range of revealing examples. An important generalization is to tensegrities, where fixed distances are replaced with 'cables' not allowed to increase in length and 'struts' not allowed to decrease in length. A special feature is the analysis of symmetric tensegrities, where the symmetry of the structure is used to simplify matters and allows the theory of group representations to be applied. Written for researchers and graduate students in structural engineering and mathematics, this work is also of interest to computer scientists and physicists.

Apps to Promote Computational Thinking Concepts and Coding Skills in Children of Preschool and Pre-Primary School Age

A decade ago, Computational Thinking (CT) and coding were typically considered part of the secondary education programs, as the focus was on programming and algorithm development. The early childhood classroom was not exactly the area expected to find students-developed coding skills. But as has been the case lately, CT and coding have been characterized as fundamental skills of the 21st century, not only for computer scientists but for all citizens. Yet, through the application of developmentally appropriate technologies, the development of coding skills is increasingly possible, and the result may be the advancement of CT fluency or at least familiarity in young age children. Given the enormous success of smart mobile devices and accompanying mobile apps the rationale for this chapter is to investigate if there are apps that provide the children of preschool and pre-primary school age with opportunities to cultivate their foundational coding and CT skills.

All Together Now

A common problem for people with disabilities, particularly those who rely on mobility devices, is learning to navigate a new environment. This is especially troublesome for students who are attending a new university and need to figure out how to get from one place to another. All Together Now is a mobile multi-player cooperative game developed for two purposes. First, the game, developed by two computer scientists and a disability studies scholar, is intended to give disabled students a fun way to learn their way around campus, learn how to report accessibility issues on that campus, and make friends with people who have similar disabilities. Second, the game can be used as a way of fostering awareness and advocacy among students without disabilities, by having them work in teams where one member is someone with a disability that causes them to rely on mobility devices. This article describes the implementation of the game within a disability studies course and the results of two pilot tests, with both disabled and non-disabled participants.

“What Happens to the Raspado man in a Cash-free Society?”: Teaching and Learning Socially Responsible Computing

The Computer Science for All movement is bringing CS to K-12 classrooms across the nation. At the same time, new technologies created by computer scientists have been reproducing existing inequities that directly impact today's youth, while being “promoted and perceived as more objective or progressive than the discriminatory systems of a previous era” [1, p. 5–6]. Current efforts are being made to expose students to the social impact and ethics of computing at both the K-12 and university-level—which we refer to as “socially responsible computing” (SRC) in this paper. Yet there is a lack of research describing what such SRC teaching and learning actively involve and look like, particularly in K-12 classrooms. This paper fills this gap with findings from a research-practice partnership, through a qualitative study in an Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles classroom enrolling low-income Latino/a/x students from a large urban community. The findings illustrate 1) details of teaching practice and student learning during discussions about SRC; 2) the impact these SRC experiences have on student engagement with CS; 3) a teacher's reflections on key considerations for effective SRC pedagogy; and 4) why students’ perspectives and agency must be centered through SRC in computing education.

Medieval manuscripts and their migrations: Using SPARQL to investigate the research potential of an aggregated Knowledge Graph

Although the RDF query language SPARQL has a reputation for being opaque and difficult for traditional humanists to learn, it holds great potential for opening up vast amounts of Linked Open Data to researchers willing to take on its challenges. This is especially true in the field of premodern manuscripts studies as more and more datasets relating to the study of manuscript culture are made available online. This paper explores the results of a two-year long process of collaborative learning and knowledge transfer between the computer scientists and humanities researchers from the Mapping Manuscript Migrations (MMM) project to learn and apply SPARQL to the MMM dataset. The process developed into a wider investigation of the use of SPARQL to analyse the data, refine research questions, and assess the research potential of the MMM aggregated dataset and its Knowledge Graph. Through an examination of a series of six SPARQL query case studies, this paper will demonstrate how the process of learning and applying SPARQL to query the MMM dataset returned three important and unexpected results: 1) a better understanding of a complex and imperfect dataset in a Linked Open Data environment, 2) a better understanding of how manuscript description and associated data involving the people and institutions involved in the production, reception, and trade of premodern manuscripts needs to be presented to better facilitate computational research, and 3) an awareness of need to further develop data literacy skills among researchers in order to take full advantage of the wealth of unexplored data now available to them in the Semantic Web.

Leveraging Parrondo's paradox for sustainable agriculture

Rotating crops is a sustainable agricultural technique that has been at the disposal of humanity since time immemorial. Switching between cover crops and cash crops allows the fields avoids overexploitation due to intensive farming. How often the respite is to be provided and what is the optimum cash cover rotation in terms of maximising yield schedule is a long-standing question tackled on multiple fronts by agricultural scientists, economists, biologists and computer scientists, to name a few. Dealing with the uncertainty in the field due to diseases, pests, droughts, floods, and impending effects of climate change, is important to consider when designing the cropping strategy. Analysing this time-tested technique of crop rotations with a new lens of Parrondo's paradox allows us to improve upon the technique and use it in synchronisation with the burning questions of contemporary times. By calculating optimum switching probabilities in a randomised cropping sequence, suggesting the optimum deterministic sequences and judicious use of fertilisers, we propose methods for improving crop yield and the eventual profit margins for farmers. Overall we also extend the domain of applicability of the seemingly unintuitive paradox by Parrondo, where two losing situations can be combined eventually into a winning scenario.

Review of The Age of Algorithms by Serge Abiteboul and Gilles Dowek

This book is about algorithms and their enormous influence on people in the current age. Algorithms are precise sets of rules to solve problems. They are ubiquitous and have a great effect on the lives of contemporary people, primarily due to technological advancement. A common example is searching for information using an Internet search engine such as Google. This book is not technical in nature and was first published in French as Le Temps des Algorithmes, by ´ Editions Le Pommier in 2020. The authors Serge Abiteboul and Gilles Dowek are computer scientists, with Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA), Rocquencourt and ´ Ecole Normale Sup´erieure, Paris respectively. They believe that algorithms have made life easier, nevertheless, they dread that algorithms may subjugate humans. This book is intended to serve as an eye-opener on the impact of algorithms on daily life.

PERFECT MATHS FOR IMPERFECT MINDS: A NEUROSCIENCE INSIGHT. INTERVIEW WITH ANNA SVERDLIK

How emotions are related to abstract thought and why mathematics is incredibly accurate, how the cerebral cortex is arranged, why its possibilities are limited, and how emotions, complementing the cortex activity, allow human brain to make scientific discoveries - these questions discussed in [1] are the subject of our interview with the author, psychiatrist Anna Sverdlik. This book is Intended for anyone who is interested in the nature of abstract thought, especially mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Written in clear pedagogical style, it gives a deep insight into the physiology of abstract thought and offers some new interpretations of recent neuroscientific data.

Pilot Testing of the UB-CAM Delirium Screening App

Systematic screening improves delirium detection among hospitalized older adults. This poster describes the development and pilot testing of an iOS-based app that incorporates the Ultra-Brief Confusion Assessment Method (UB-CAM), a two-step, delirium detection protocol that combines the UB-2 (2-item screener) and 3D-CAM. Previous work tested a RedCAP-based UB-CAM app in 527 patients with 399 physicians, nurses, and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) showing it can be successfully completed by all three disciplines in 97% of eligible patients in 80 seconds on average with over 85% accuracy relative to a gold standard. To improve accessibility to the clinical setting, our research team now collaborated with a computer scientist to develop and refine an iOS-based UB-CAM app for the iPhone and iPad through iterative “laboratory” testing. The app was piloted by non-clinician, research testers in hospitalized older adults (age x̄ =83, SD= 8.0) with dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale x̄ =1.1, SD= .30); 64% were assessed to be delirium positive. The app demonstrated preliminary efficiency (90 seconds on average), high acceptability (100% satisfaction of users), and reliability (100% inter-rater). This project underscores the need for close collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and computer scientists with iterative testing of bedside-facing apps prior to testing with patients. Next steps include testing effectiveness in a pragmatic trial with clinician users (physicians, nurses, CNAs), integrating the UB-CAM app into the routine hospital care of all older patients. Having rapid, accurate bedside delirium detection has the potential to transform care.

Accelerator-level parallelism

Charging computer scientists to develop the science needed to best achieve the performance and cost goals of accelerator-level parallelism hardware and software.