Abstract Constraint Data Types

Martin Wirsing is one of the earliest contributors to the area of Algebraic Specification (e.g., [2]), which he explored in a variety of domains over many years. Throughout his career, he has also inspired countless researchers in related areas. This paper is inspired by one of the domains that he explored thirty years or so after his first contributions when leading the FET Integrated Project SENSORIA [14]: the use of constraint systems to deal with non-functional requirements and preferences [13,8]. Following in his footsteps, we provide an extension of the traditional notion of algebraic data type specification to encompass soft-constraints as formalised in [1]. Finally, we relate this extension with institutions [6] and recent work on graded consequence in institutions [3].Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

A Fully Abstract Symbolic Semantics for Psi-Calculi

We present a symbolic transition system and bisimulation equivalence for psi-calculi, and show that it is fully abstract with respect to bisimulation congruence in the non-symbolic semantics. A psi-calculus is an extension of the pi-calculus with nominal data types for data structures and for logical assertions representing facts about data. These can be transmitted between processes and their names can be statically scoped using the standard pi-calculus mechanism to allow for scope migrations. Psi-calculi can be more general than other proposed extensions of the pi-calculus such as the applied pi-calculus, the spi-calculus, the fusion calculus, or the concurrent constraint pi-calculus. Symbolic semantics are necessary for an efficient implementation of the calculus in automated tools exploring state spaces, and the full abstraction property means the semantics of a process does not change from the original

Data abstraction in coordination constraints

Communications in Computer and Information Science 393, 2013This paper studies complex coordination mechanisms based on constraint satisfaction. In particular, it focuses on data-sensitive connectors from the Reo coordination language. These connectors restrict how and where data can flow between loosely-coupled components taking into account the data being exchanged. Existing engines for Reo provide a very limited support for data-sensitive connectors, even though data constraints are captured by the original semantic models for Reo. When executing data-sensitive connectors, coordination constraints are not exhaustively solved at compile time but at runtime on a per-need basis, powered by an existing SMT (satisfiability modulo theories) solver.To deal with a wider range of data types and operations, we abstract data and reduce the original constraint satisfaction problem to a SAT problem, based on a variation of predicate abstraction. We show soundness and completeness of the abstraction mechanism for well-defined constraints, and validate our approach by evaluating the performance of a prototype implementation with different test cases, with and without abstraction.(undefined

Constraints affecting adolescent girls' continued participation at resident camp

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 16, 2009).Thesis advisor: Dr. David R. Vaught.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.Although there are many benefits of being in the outdoors and attending camp, many girls cease participation in camp (ACAb, 2008; Easter Seals, 2008). The purpose of this study was to determine the specific constraints that inhibit adolescent girls continued participation in a resident camp. Two types of surveys were administered, a mail-back survey to girls that no longer attended Camp Oakledge and a group administered survey to girls that attended Camp Oakledge in the summer of 2008.Constraint theory was the basis of this research. A constraint has been defined as "a factor that limits or inhibits participation in a given leisure pursuit," (Raymore, Godbey, Crawford, and van Eye (1993; p. 99) while Jackson (1988; p. 69) defined a constraint as a, "subset of reasons for not engaging in a particular behavior." There are three types of constraints; intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural (Alfadhil, 1996). Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science 16.0 (SPSS). Results from the independent sample t-tests between the girls who stopped attending camp and the girls who attended camp in the summer of 2008, indicated the top constraint in each category were homesickness, not having a friend to go back to camp with and not having a scholarship. Results from this study may provide some beneficial information to the Girl Scouts to understand non-participation in a camp settings as well as strategies to alleviate some of these constraints.Includes bibliographical references

Kendala Double O dalam Kalimat Bahasa Jepang

Abstract   Japanese has many particles, one of them is o (を). Because of a constraint known as the double-o constraint, there shouldn't be any two o particles in a single Japanese sentence. The aim of this article is to describe what types of double-o sentences are permissible and what the meaning of a sentence with a double o is. The writer gathers data from a variety of sources through library study techniques, then sorts and analyzes the material using the distribution method. When o particles objects are in the same phrase, the double-o constraint occurs. In a causative sentence, the double-o constraint is more noticeable. There are two types of causative sentences: o-causative and ni-causative but they can be used only when accompanied by intransitive verbs. The o particle is used to indicate the direct object, hence in a compound sentence with the double o, the subject performs two acts against each object. Keywords: Causative sentence, double o, o particle   Abstrak   Bahasa Jepang terdapat banyak sekali partikel, satu diantaranya adalah o (を). Pada kalimat bahasa Jepang tidak boleh ada dua partikel o dalam satu kalimat karena terdapat kendala double o. Artikel bertujuan untuk mengetahui kalimat double o seperti apa yang dapat berterima serta makna kalimat yang memiliki double o. Penulis mengumpulkan data melalui berbagai sumber dengan teknik studi pustaka, kemudian penulis menyortir data lalu menganalisis menggunakan metode distribusional. Kendala double o terjadi apabila terdapat dua objek yang diwatasi oleh partikel o berada pada klausa yang sama. Kendala double o tersebut lebih kentara jika dilihat dalam kalimat kausatif. Pada kalimat kausatif terdapat dua varian, yaitu o-kausatif dan ni-kausatif namun kedua hal tersebut dapat digunakan hanya jika disertai oleh verba intransitif. Partikel o digunakan untuk menandai objek langsung sehingga pada kalimat majemuk yang memiliki double o, terdapat dua aksi yang dilakukan oleh subjek terhadap masing-masing objek. Kata kunci: Double o, kalimat kausatif, partikel

A Review of Franchising Research in Taiwan Social Science Citation Index (TSSCI) Database

Abstract. This study investigated the current developmental state of research on franchise systems in Taiwan. A systematic literature review was conducted, in which studies published by the Taiwan Social Science Citation Index were used as the primary data and studies related to franchise systems were analyzed. The results showed that the most common types of research conducted by Taiwanese scholars were quantitative research (56.25%), case studies (25.0%), conceptual papers (12.5%), and qualitative research (6.25%). Of all the related topics investigated by Taiwanese scholars, entrepreneur traits, motivation for joining (or opening) a franchise system; performance; business types; and knowledge, technologies, and innovations were the most frequently explored. The most common theories examined were agency (22.22%), resource scarcity (16.67%), information asymmetry (11.11%), transaction cost (11.11%), intellectual capital(5.56%), resource dependence (5.56%), dynamic knowledge creation (5.56%), resource constraint (5.56%), social identity (5.56%), risk allocation (5.56%), and communication (5.56%) theories.Keywords. Systematic literature review, Taiwanese Social Science Citation Index (TSSCI), Franchise system.JEL. M10, L33, L52

Deriving session and union types for objects

Guaranteeing that the parties of a network application respect a given protocol is a crucial issue. Session types offer a method for abstracting and validating structured communication sequences (sessions). Object-oriented programming is an established paradigm for large scale applications. Union types, which behave as the least common supertypes of a set of classes, allow the implementation of unrelated classes with similar interfaces without additional programming. We have previously developed an integration of the features above into a class-based core language for building network applications, and this successfully amalgamated sessions and methods so that data can be exchanged flexibly according to communication protocols (session types). The first aim of the work reported in this paper is to provide a full proof of the type safety property for that core language by renewing syntax, typing and semantics. In this way, static typechecking guarantees that after a session has started, computation cannot get stuck on a communication deadlock. The second aim is to define a constraint-based type system that reconstructs the appropriate session types of session declarations instead of assuming that session types are explicitly given by the programmer. Such an algorithm can save programming work, and automatically presents an abstract view of the communications of the session

Propositional Encoding of Constraints over Tree-Shaped Data

We present a functional programming language for specifying constraints over tree-shaped data. The language allows for Haskell-like algebraic data types and pattern matching. Our constraint compiler CO4 translates these programs into satisfiability problems in propositional logic. We present an application from the area of automated analysis of (non-)termination of rewrite systems