The effects of manipulated augmented sensory feedback on error detection when using a touch screen

The purpose of the present study was to determine which augmented sensory modality would best develop subjective error-detection capabilities of learners performing a spatial-temporal task when using a touch screen monitor. Participants were required to learn a 5-digit key-pressing task in a goal time of 2550 ms over 100 acquisition trials on a touch screen. Participants were randomized into 1 of 4 groups: 1) visual-feedback (colour change of button when selected), 2) auditory-feedback (click sound when button was selected), 3) visual-auditory feedback (both colour change and click sound when button was selected), and 4) no-feedback (no colour change or click sound when button was selected). Following each trial, participants were required to provide a subjective estimate regarding their performance time in relation to the actual time it took for them complete the 5-digit sequence. A no-KR retention test was conducted approximately 24-hours after the last completed acquisition trial. Results showed that practicing a timing task on a touch screen augmented with both visual and auditory information may have differentially impacted motor skill acquisition such that removal of one or both sources of augmented feedback did not result in a severe detriment to timing performance or error detection capabilities of the learner. The present study reflects the importance of multimodal augmented feedback conditions to maximize cognitive abilities for developing a stronger motor memory for subjective error-detection and correction capabilities.

A domain-general perspective on medial frontal brain activity during performance monitoring

Activity of the medial frontal cortex (MFC) has been implicated in attention regulation and performance monitoring. The MFC is thought to generate several event-related potential (ERPs) components, known as medial frontal negativities (MFNs), that are elicited when a behavioural response becomes difficult to control (e.g., following an error or shifting from a frequently executed response). The functional significance of MFNs has traditionally been interpreted in the context of the paradigm used to elicit a specific response, such as errors. In a series of studies, we consider the functional similarity of multiple MFC brain responses by designing novel performance monitoring tasks and exploiting advanced methods for electroencephalography (EEG) signal processing and robust estimation statistics for hypothesis testing. In study 1, we designed a response cueing task and used Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to show that the latent factors describing a MFN to stimuli that cued the potential need to inhibit a response on upcoming trials also accounted for medial frontal brain responses that occurred when individuals made a mistake or inhibited an incorrect response. It was also found that increases in theta occurred to each of these task events, and that the effects were evident at the group level and in single cases. In study 2, we replicated our method of classifying MFC activity to cues in our response task and showed again, using additional tasks, that error commission, response inhibition, and, to a lesser extent, the processing of performance feedback all elicited similar changes across MFNs and theta power. In the final study, we converted our response cueing paradigm into a saccade cueing task in order to examine the oscillatory dynamics of response preparation. We found that, compared to easy pro-saccades, successfully preparing a difficult anti-saccadic response was characterized by an increase in MFC theta and the suppression of posterior alpha power prior to executing the eye movement. These findings align with a large body of literature on performance monitoring and ERPs, and indicate that MFNs, along with their signature in theta power, reflects the general process of controlling attention and adapting behaviour without the need to induce error commission, the inhibition of responses, or the presentation of negative feedback.

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from an illegible signature stating that he suspects a clerical error in one of the columns, n.d.

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from an illegible signature stating that he suspects a clerical error in one of the columns, n.d.

Esta vida no es la vida o : el gran error del siglo XIX

UANL

Quantifying historical, capital mobility in Canada : an error correction approach.

Rapport de recherche

Mitigación del error de impedencia en relevadores de distancia antela modernización de los sistemas eléctricos de potencia.

Tesis (Doctor en Ingeniería Eléctrica) UANL, 2012.

Classifying medication use in clinical research

Les données sur l'utilisation des médicaments sont généralement recueillies dans la recherche clinique. Pourtant, aucune méthode normalisée pour les catégoriser n’existe, que ce soit pour la description des échantillons ou pour l'étude de l'utilisation des médicaments comme une variable. Cette étude a été conçue pour développer un système de classification simple, sur une base empirique, pour la catégorisation d'utilisation des médicaments. Nous avons utilisé l'analyse factorielle pour réduire le nombre de groupements de médicaments possible. Cette analyse a fait émerger un modèle de constellations de consommation de médicaments qui semble caractériser des groupes cliniques spécifiques. Pour illustrer le potentiel de la technique, nous avons appliqué ce système de classification des échantillons où les troubles du sommeil sont importants: syndrome de fatigue chronique et l'apnée du sommeil. Notre méthode de classification a généré 5 facteurs qui semblent adhérer de façon logique. Ils ont été nommés: Médicaments cardiovasculaire/syndrome métabolique, Médicaments pour le soulagement des symptômes, Médicaments psychotropes, Médicaments préventifs et Médicaments hormonaux. Nos résultats démontrent que le profil des médicaments varie selon l'échantillon clinique. Le profil de médicament associé aux participants apnéiques reflète les conditions de comorbidité connues parmi ce groupe clinique, et le profil de médicament associé au Syndrome de fatigue chronique semble refléter la perception commune de cette condition comme étant un trouble psychogène

An Error-Localization, Validation and Optimization Tool for Embedded Code Augmentation: an Architecture Oriented Approach

Embedded systems are usually designed for a single or a specified set of tasks. This specificity means the system design as well as its hardware/software development can be highly optimized. Embedded software must meet the requirements such as high reliability operation on resource-constrained platforms, real time constraints and rapid development. This necessitates the adoption of static machine codes analysis tools running on a host machine for the validation and optimization of embedded system codes, which can help meet all of these goals. This could significantly augment the software quality and is still a challenging field.Embedded systems are usually designed for a single or a specified set of tasks. This specificity means the system design as well as its hardware/software development can be highly optimized. Embedded software must meet the requirements such as high reliability operation on resource-constrained platforms, real time constraints and rapid development. This necessitates the adoption of static machine codes analysis tools running on a host machine for the validation and optimization of embedded system codes, which can help meet all of these goals. This could significantly augment the software quality and is still a challenging field.Embedded systems are usually designed for a single or a specified set of tasks. This specificity means the system design as well as its hardware/software development can be highly optimized. Embedded software must meet the requirements such as high reliability operation on resource-constrained platforms, real time constraints and rapid development. This necessitates the adoption of static machine codes analysis tools running on a host machine for the validation and optimization of embedded system codes, which can help meet all of these goals. This could significantly augment the software quality and is still a challenging field.Embedded systems are usually designed for a single or a specified set of tasks. This specificity means the system design as well as its hardware/software development can be highly optimized. Embedded software must meet the requirements such as high reliability operation on resource-constrained platforms, real time constraints and rapid development. This necessitates the adoption of static machine codes analysis tools running on a host machine for the validation and optimization of embedded system codes, which can help meet all of these goals. This could significantly augment the software quality and is still a challenging field.This dissertation contributes to an architecture oriented code validation, error localization and optimization technique assisting the embedded system designer in software debugging, to make it more effective at early detection of software bugs that are otherwise hard to detect, using the static analysis of machine codes. The focus of this work is to develop methods that automatically localize faults as well as optimize the code and thus improve the debugging process as well as quality of the code.Validation is done with the help of rules of inferences formulated for the target processor. The rules govern the occurrence of illegitimate/out of place instructions and code sequences for executing the computational and integrated peripheral functions. The stipulated rules are encoded in propositional logic formulae and their compliance is tested individually in all possible execution paths of the application programs. An incorrect sequence of machine code pattern is identified using slicing techniques on the control flow graph generated from the machine code.An algorithm to assist the compiler to eliminate the redundant bank switching codes and decide on optimum data allocation to banked memory resulting in minimum number of bank switching codes in embedded system software is proposed. A relation matrix and a state transition diagram formed for the active memory bank state transition corresponding to each bank selection instruction is used for the detection of redundant codes. Instances of code redundancy based on the stipulated rules for the target processor are identified.This validation and optimization tool can be integrated to the system development environment. It is a novel approach independent of compiler/assembler, applicable to a wide range of processors once appropriate rules are formulated. Program states are identified mainly with machine code pattern, which drastically reduces the state space creation contributing to an improved state-of-the-art model checking. Though the technique described is general, the implementation is architecture oriented, and hence the feasibility study is conducted on PIC16F87X microcontrollers. The proposed tool will be very useful in steering novices towards correct use of difficult microcontroller features in developing embedded systems.

Fault Tolerant Error Coding and Detection using Reversible Gates

In recent years, reversible logic has emerged as one of the most important approaches for power optimization with its application in low power CMOS, quantum computing and nanotechnology. Low power circuits implemented using reversible logic that provides single error correction – double error detection (SEC-DED) is proposed in this paper. The design is done using a new 4 x 4 reversible gate called ‘HCG’ for implementing hamming error coding and detection circuits. A parity preserving HCG (PPHCG) that preserves the input parity at the output bits is used for achieving fault tolerance for the hamming error coding and detection circuits.

An efficient scheme for the evaluation of coding performance of high speed links incorporating joint error behaviour based on Monte Carlo Method

While channel coding is a standard method of improving a system’s energy efficiency in digital communications, its practice does not extend to high-speed links. Increasing demands in network speeds are placing a large burden on the energy efficiency of high-speed links and render the benefit of channel coding for these systems a timely subject. The low error rates of interest and the presence of residual intersymbol interference (ISI) caused by hardware constraints impede the analysis and simulation of coded high-speed links. Focusing on the residual ISI and combined noise as the dominant error mechanisms, this paper analyses error correlation through concepts of error region, channel signature, and correlation distance. This framework provides a deeper insight into joint error behaviours in high-speed links, extends the range of statistical simulation for coded high-speed links, and provides a case against the use of biased Monte Carlo methods in this setting

A Numerically efficient power optimization scheme for coded OFDM systems in achieving minimum frame error rate

Coded OFDM is a transmission technique that is used in many practical communication systems. In a coded OFDM system, source data are coded, interleaved and multiplexed for transmission over many frequency sub-channels. In a conventional coded OFDM system, the transmission power of each subcarrier is the same regardless of the channel condition. However, some subcarrier can suffer deep fading with multi-paths and the power allocated to the faded subcarrier is likely to be wasted. In this paper, we compute the FER and BER bounds of a coded OFDM system given as convex functions for a given channel coder, inter-leaver and channel response. The power optimization is shown to be a convex optimization problem that can be solved numerically with great efficiency. With the proposed power optimization scheme, near-optimum power allocation for a given coded OFDM system and channel response to minimize FER or BER under a constant transmission power constraint is obtained

Model Diagnostics in the presence of measurement error

The problem of using information available from one variable X to make inferenceabout another Y is classical in many physical and social sciences. In statistics this isoften done via regression analysis where mean response is used to model the data. Onestipulates the model Y = µ(X) +ɛ. Here µ(X) is the mean response at the predictor variable value X = x, and ɛ = Y - µ(X) is the error. In classical regression analysis, both (X; Y ) are observable and one then proceeds to make inference about the mean response function µ(X). In practice there are numerous examples where X is not available, but a variable Z is observed which provides an estimate of X. As an example, consider the herbicidestudy of Rudemo, et al. [3] in which a nominal measured amount Z of herbicide was applied to a plant but the actual amount absorbed by the plant X is unobservable. As another example, from Wang [5], an epidemiologist studies the severity of a lung disease, Y , among the residents in a city in relation to the amount of certain air pollutants. The amount of the air pollutants Z can be measured at certain observation stations in the city, but the actual exposure of the residents to the pollutants, X, is unobservable and may vary randomly from the Z-values. In both cases X = Z+error: This is the so called Berkson measurement error model.In more classical measurement error model one observes an unbiased estimator W of X and stipulates the relation W = X + error: An example of this model occurs when assessing effect of nutrition X on a disease. Measuring nutrition intake precisely within 24 hours is almost impossible. There are many similar examples in agricultural or medical studies, see e.g., Carroll, Ruppert and Stefanski [1] and Fuller [2], , among others. In this talk we shall address the question of fitting a parametric model to the re-gression function µ(X) in the Berkson measurement error model: Y = µ(X) + ɛ; X = Z + η; where η and ɛ are random errors with E(ɛ) = 0, X and η are d-dimensional, and Z is the observable d-dimensional r.v.