Implementing and reasoning about hash-consed data structures in Coq

We report on four different approaches to implementing hash-consing in Coq programs. The use cases include execution inside Coq, or execution of the extracted OCaml code. We explore the different trade-offs between faithful use of pristine extracted code, and code that is fine-tuned to make use of OCaml programming constructs not available in Coq. We discuss the possible consequences in terms of performances and guarantees. We use the running example of binary decision diagrams and then demonstrate the generality of our solutions by applying them to other examples of hash-consed data structures

Optimising Sargable Conjunctive Predicate Queries in the Context of Big Data

With the continued increase in the volume of data, the volume dimension of big data has become a significant factor in estimating query time. When all other factors are held constant, query time increases as the volume of data increases and vice versa. To enhance query time, several techniques have come out of research efforts in this direction. One of such techniques is factorisation of query predicates. Factorisation has been used as a query optimization technique for the general class of predicates but has been found inapplicable to the subclass of sargable conjunctive equality predicates. Experiments performed exposed a peculiar nature of sargable conjunctive equality predicates based on which insight, the concatenated predicate model was formulated as capable of optimising sargable conjunctive equality predicates. Equations from research results were combined in a way that theorems describing the application and optimality of the concatenated predicate model were derived and proved

Performance: Its meaning and content for today's business research

Copyright © 2007 Elsevier. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Computers in Industry. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Computers in Industry (2007), DOI: 10.1016/j.compind.2007.05.002Performance, as a concept, is a subject open to wide variability as it is a somewhat imprecise word when it functions as a placeholder in research. By using definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary and other research disciplines, this paper provides a wide-ranging discussion of the meaning and content of the term performance in the business performance research. The paper reviews numerous characteristics of performance, such as its being a subjective entity that is non-random in character; while it is governed by its relevance to a particular environment, and operates from a particular objective, by virtue of a set of chosen characteristics. It contains elements that are both static and dynamic; and it is possible to characterise via three states: unformed or random, formalised or systematic, and deformed or over-bureaucratic. Also, an encapsulating model of performance, whereby performance acts as a frame around performance management, performance assessment and performance measurement is proposed. Studies of performance as a concept in itself are practically non-existent in the business research; the value of this paper, therefore, lies in its attempt to explicate previously undocumented models of performance

Controlling Conception: Citizenship and the Governance of Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Canada (1989-2004)

The emergence of a neoliberal mode of governance in the 1970s occurred in tandem with the advent of new reproductive technologies. These two developments have fundamentally altered social life, and have resulted in the emergence of new governable subjects. In the case of neoliberalism the new subject is the neoliberal citizen, a responsible, self-sufficient individual free to make choices in the context of the free market. In the case of assisted reproductive technologies, donor-conceived people, egg donors, surrogates, and LGBTQ parents using reproductive technologies have emerged as new reproductive citizens to be governed in public policy and law. This dissertation traces the confluence of these developments and the emergence of neoliberal and (assisted) reproductive citizens in the policy process leading to the 2004 Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Drawing on policy documents, parliamentary debates, interviews with key actors, media coverage, and the “grey literature” from interest group actors (i.e., pamphlets, websites, flyers, brochures), this dissertation argues that federal governance of assisted reproductive technologies occurred in ways that reflect the imperatives of a neoliberal citizenship. At the same time, infertile people, LGBTQ people, donor-conceived families, egg donors and surrogates emerged differently in the policy debates, media, and jurisprudence as important subjects in the governance of ARTs, and at times, there were attempts to protect the interests of the vulnerable in the legislative process. In the end, however, concerns about the interests of reproductive citizens, including women’s health and autonomy, the kinship ties of children born of these technologies, and the need to prevent infertility on a large scale were supplanted by a continuation and indeed, an escalation of practices in assisted reproduction that embrace commercialization and individual choice above all

Virtual Pilgrimage in a Time of Pandemic: Lessons from the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

The COVID-19 pandemic has already cost billions to those in the tourist industry. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), this pandemic is ‘by far the worst crisis that international tourism has faced since records began’ in 1950. People who rely on the pilgrim trade are similarly suffering. In this short exploration, I argue that the success of virtual pilgrimage and the history of pilgrimage’s adaptability suggest that people’s appetite for pilgrimage will experience a resurgence once local and national governments lift travel restrictions. In order to assess the future of pilgrimage, I will consider the popularity of virtual pilgrimage (including participation in virtual walks and viewing of religious rituals online). I will use history as evidence, arguing that pilgrimage has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to changing circumstances including plague and war, and that virtual pilgrimage is not a new concept. I will focus in particular on the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, arguing that, if virtual interest in the Shrine gives us any indication, pilgrimage will recover despite the strains placed on it by the pandemic. More importantly, however, the experience of virtual pilgrimage might actually add a new and exciting component of inclusion to traditional pilgrimage

Creative Thinking and Modelling for the Decision Support in Water Management

This paper reviews the state of art in knowledge and preferences elicitation techniques. The purpose of the study was to evaluate various cognitive mapping techniques in order to conclude with the identification of the optimal technique for the NetSyMod methodology. Network Analysis – Creative System Modelling (NetSyMod) methodology has been designed for the improvement of decision support systems (DSS) with respect to the environmental problems. In the paper the difference is made between experts and stakeholders knowledge and preference elicitation methods. The suggested technique is very similar to the Nominal Group Techniques (NGT) with the external representation of the analysed problem by means of the Hodgson Hexagons. The evolving methodology is undergoing tests within several EU-funded projects such as: ITAES, IISIM, NostrumDSS.Creative modelling, Cognitive mapping, Preference elicitation techniques, Decision support

Blood money: The commodification of menstrual education in the United States

girl’s first menstrual cycle is often considered the first step of the seemingly ritualistic passage into womanhood. However, most girls within the United States who experience menarche fail to view it as a rite of passage, and instead see it as an event they must endure rather than celebrate. Menstruation is a mystifying process for young girls, and the mystification is intensified through the lack of open conversations between pre- and post-menarcheal females. While pedagogical strategies in period education have evolved over time, the one constant within menstrual education is silence. This thesis aims to write into the silence surrounding menstruation by examining the complex nature of menstrual education—the cyclical history of shame, the implementation of puberty self-help guides as surrogates for conversations, and new media approaches to menstruation—in an effort to understand and justify the fears and concerns young girls have towards their own impending menarche