Behavioral Types for Embedded Software - A Survey

At present, there is a variety of formalisms for modeling and analyzing the communication behavior of components. Due to a tremendous increase in size and complexity of embedded systems accompanied by shorter time to market cycles and cost reduction, so called behavioral type systems become more and more important. This chapter presents an overview and a taxonomy of behavioral types. The intentions of this taxonomy are to provide a guidance for software engineers and to form the basis for future research.

Evaluation of short dietary questions from the 1995 National Nutrition Survey

Six of the short dietary questions used in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey (see box below) were evaluated for relative validity both directly and indirectly and for consistency, by documenting the differences in mean intakes of foods and nutrients as measured on the 24-hour recall, between groups with different responses to the short questions. 1. Including snacks, how many times do you usually have something to eat in a day including evenings? 2. How many days per week do you usually have something to eat for breakfast? 3. In the last 12 months, were there any times that you ran out of food and couldn’t afford to buy more? 4. What type of milk do you usually consume? 5. How many serves of vegetables do you usually eat each day? (a serve = 1/2 cup cooked vegetables or 1 cup of salad vegetables) 6. How many serves of fruit do you usually eat each day? (a serve = 1 medium piece or 2 small pieces of fruit or 1 cup of diced pieces) These comparisons were made for males and females overall and for population sub-groups of interest including: age, socio-economic disadvantage, region of residence, country of birth, and BMI category. Several limitations to this evaluation of the short questions, as discussed in the report, need to be kept in mind including: · The method for comparison available (24-hour recall) was not ideal (gold standard); as it measures yesterday’s intake. This limitation was overcome by examining only mean differences between groups of respondents, since mean intake for a group can provide a reasonable approximation for ‘usual’ intake. · The need to define and identify, post-hoc, from the 24-hour recall the number of eating occasions, and occasions identified by the respondents as breakfast. · Predetermined response categories for some of the questions effectively limited the number of categories available for evaluation. · Other foods and nutrients, not selected for this evaluation, may have an indirect relationship with the question, and might have shown stronger and more consistent responses. · The number of responses in some categories of the short questions eg for food security may have been too small to detect significant differences between population sub-groups. · No information was available to examine the validity of these questions for detecting differences over time (establishing trends) in food habits and indicators of selected nutrient intakes. By contrast, the strength of this evaluation was its very large sample size, (atypical of most validation studies of dietary assessment) and thus, the opportunity to investigate question performance in a range of broad population sub-groups compared with a well-conducted, quantified survey of intakes. The results of the evaluation are summarised below for each of the questions and specific recommendations for future testing, modifications and use provided for each question. The report concludes with some general recommendations for the further development and evaluation of short dietary questions.

A report on socioeconomic attributes and gender inequality in Kondh-dominated villages: A comparative analysis of tribals and non-tribals in the Phulbani district, Orissa, India

Reports on results of a survey, completed in 2000, of wives in three villages in the Phulbani district, Orissa, India. These villages are dominated by the Kondh scheduled tribe but some also contain members of the scheduled caste, called Dombs in Orissa. The article reports on the total responses and comparative responses of these groups to a structured questionnaire. The article provides background information for the villages surveyed, and reports information in relation to wives and their families about property rights, assets and incomes, economic conditions and survival strategies, aspects of credit, production and marketing, social dynamics and eduction. In addition, children’s affairs, including the treatment and entitlements of female and male children, are considered as well as additional aspects of the socioeconomic status of wives.

Economic theories of the family and discrimination in a social context: Entitlements of Kondh tribal females in India

Economic theories of the family and gender discrimination within the family are examined in the context of Kondh dominated tribal villages in rural western Orissa, India, drawing on results from a survey of 106 wives. The survey involved direct interviews using a structured questionnaire. This article examines the relevance of economic unitary and bargaining theories of the family in this social context, drawing on background literature. Using the survey results, socioeconomic influences on the status of wives within their families are analyzed and the entitlements of female and male children are compared and analyzed. Because of cultural embedding, it is suggested that the relevance of economic theories of the family depend significantly on cultural context. In many cases, it seems that poverty has a negative influence on the social empowerment of females but it is not the only influence nor always a sufficient condition for discrimination against females.