Types and verification for infinite state systems

Server-like or non-terminating programs are central to modern computing. It is a common requirement for these programs that they always be available to produce a behaviour. One method of showing such availability is by endowing a type-theory with constraints that demonstrate that a program will always produce some behaviour or halt. Such a constraint is often called productivity. We introduce a type theory which can be used to type-check a polymorphic functional programming language similar to a fragment of the Haskell programming language. This allows placing constraints on program terms such that they will not type-check unless they are productive. We show that using program transformation techniques, one can restructure some programs which are not provably productive in our type theory into programs which are manifestly productive. This allows greater programmer flexibility in the specification of such programs. We have demonstrated a mechanisation of some of these important results in the proof-assistant Coq. We have also written a program transformation system for this term-language in the programming language Haskell

Measuring the Propagation of Information in Partial Evaluation

We present the first measurement-based analysis of the information propagated by a partial evaluator. Our analysis is based on measuring implementations of string-matching algorithms, based on the observation that the sequence of character comparisons accurately reflects maintained information. Notably, we can easily prove matchers to be different and we show that they display more variety and finesse than previously believed. As a consequence, we are able to pinpoint differences and inaccuracies in many results previously considered equivalent. Our analysis includes a framework that lets us obtain string matchers - notably the family of Boyer-Moore algorithms - in a systematic formalism-independent way from a few information-propagation primitives. By leveraging the existing research in string matching, we show that the landscape of information propagation is non-trivial in the sense that small changes in information propagation may dramatically change the properties of the resulting string matchers. We thus expect that this work will prove useful as a test and feedback mechanism for information propagation in the development of advanced program transformations, such as GPC or Supercompilation

Phosphorylation dependent structural function of DNA-PKcs in DNA repair and hematopoiesis

Genomic stability is essential for maintaining cellular function and preventing oncogenic transformation. DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) are the most severe form of DNA damage. Classical non-homologous end joining (cNHEJ) is one of two major DSB repair pathways in mammalian cells. During lymphocyte development, NHEJ is required for the repair of programmed double strand breaks (DSBs) occurring during V(D)J recombination and Class Switch Recombination (CSR). Defects in cNHEJ cause severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) in patients and animal models. Misrepair of physiological DSBs generated during normal lymphocyte development results in clonal translocations, which is characteristic of human lymphoid malignancy: it is the most common cancer type in children and the third leading cancer type in adults. Lymphoid malignancies are characterized by clonal translocations involving the antigen receptor loci, which often arise from the misrepair of programmed double strand breaks (DSBs). Furthermore, cNHEJ also plays a critical role in aging and therapeutic responses to genotoxic cancer therapy. My thesis study focuses on the function and regulation of DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs). DNA-PKcs is a vertebrate specific NHEJ factor and one of most abundant proteins in human cells. Together with the DNA binding Ku70 and Ku80 heterodimer, DNA-PKcs forms the DNA dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) holoenzyme. In addition to its important role in cNHEJ, DNA-PK also orchestrates the mammalian DNA damage response (DDR) together with the related ATM and ATR kinases by phosphorylating hundreds of partially overlapping substrates. My thesis goes deeper than the kinase and signaling function of DNA-PKcs during cNHEJ. We investigated the structural function of DNA-PKcs in cNHEJ (chapter 2) and A-EJ (chapter 3), using a mouse model with point mutations that lead to the expression of kinase dead (KD) DNA-PKcs. Second, we explored potential roles of DNA-PKcs outside of cNHEJ and A-EJ with a mouse model of DNA-PKcs lacking specific phosphorylation sites (chapter 4). Altogether, our results identified an unexpected structural function of DNA-PKcs in cNHEJ and the DNA damage response and expanded the purview of the function of DNA-PKcs into new areas, including hematopoiesis, alternative end-joining and potentially nucleoli stress

Semantics and the stratification of explanation in cognitive science

This work is concerned with a pervasive problem in Cognitive Science which I have called the "stratificational" approach. I argue that the division into "levels of explanation" that runs as a constant theme through much work in Cognitive Science and in particular natural language semantics, is in direct conflict with neuroscientific evidence. I claim it is also in conflict with a right understanding of the philosophical notion of "evidence". The neuroscientific work is linked with the philosophical problem to provide a critique of concrete cases of research within the natural language semantics community. More recent neuroscientifically aware research is examined and it is demonstrated that it suffers similar problems due to the same deep running assumptions as those which effect traditional formalist theory. The contribution of this thesis is thought to be that of a demonstration of the essential nature and indeed the ubiquity of the basic assumptions in the field. Also, a new link is forged between the concerns of the formalists and certain seemingly more abstract philosophical work. This link enables us to see how much philosophical problems infect research into cognition and language. It is argued that practical research in Cognitive Science simply cannot be seen to be independent of the philosophical basis of the entire subject. The resulting picture of Cognitive Science and its place is outlined and explored with special emphasis on what I have called the "Principle of Semantic Indistinguishabliity" which says that the contribution of what can be broadly termed "environment" is epitemologically opaque to our cognition. The importance of this principle is discussed.The purpose of this work is to draw out a fundamental thread of reasoning and methodology that underlies most traditional work, and some not so traditional work, in Cognitive Science. It will be argued that this line of reasoning is at odds with the implications of modern neuroscience and cannot base a reasonable claim to "explain" human cognition. The picture I shall identify is that which I shall call "stratified". This, in general, is an attempt at explanation that divides into "levels of explanation", each with its own concepts that are said to be essential to the explanation of a phenomenon. There are specific and pragmatic manifestations of this, I discuss these in Chapter 3 and 7 in particular. There are also more abstract expressions of the same tendency which I examine mainly in Chapter 6. One of the principle tasks is to demonstrate the links between the assumptions of the more abstract formulations of this approach and th eir pragmatic instantiations in work in Cognitive Science. This allows it to be made clear that certain methodological problems are ubiquitous within the field and are not simply a result of the particular pragmatics of a particular research area.In Cognitive Science as a whole, it is generally appreciated today that there are problems to do with integration of traditional formal systems and the evolutionary and biological aspects of human cognition. One aim of this work is exactly to give an argument, supported from work in the brain sciences, that a certain methodology - particularly that enshrined within formal systems in language semantics - is strongly denied its evidential basis as a result of certain empirical considerations. It is also denied much of its basis as a result of the incongruity between the original motivations of logical formalism and the use to which this formalism is put today. The conclusion of this is that Cognitive Science's role in certain areas is severely limited and it crucially relies on an amount of empirical brain research in places thought usually to be completely separate from the "low-level" evidence from neuroscience. Part of my thesis is that stratified systems and particularly systems of formal logic within linguistics and semantics, cannot possibly be independent in the way imagined. There is also exploration of a general point regarding the character of the relation between strata in a stratified theory. There is, I shall argue, an irresolvable tension between the desire to have separate strata which are both independent but related. We shall see this both in concrete terms in the discussion of Fodor and in the abstract in the discussion of McDowell.George Lakoffhas expressed agreement with this particular premise: " ... linguistic results ... indicate that human reason uses some of the same mechanisms involved in perception and ... human reason can be seen as growing out of perceptual and motor mechanisms."1If this is correct, then I think that there are enormous implications for Cognitive Science in its practise of semantics since the mechanisms of motor and perceptual systems impose radical constraints when applied in the area of semantics.Given this, my aim is to demonstrate that certain seemingly theoryindependent areas of research in Cognitive Science such as linguistics and natural language semantics are actually infected with damaging assumptions from certain misguided philosophical positions. The idea that we can simply model things in Cognitive Science and wait for someone else to sort out the theoretical structure into which all of the models will fit is not tenable. I shall demonstrate this in several concrete cases and couple this with a critique from neuroscience which is crucially related to a more philosophical critique of fundamental assumptions. The structure of the work is as follows. Firstly, I give an overview of foundational issues in Cognitive Science by discussing central works. Then, I introduce the main problems in concrete form by way of an examination of certain approaches to inference in formal semantics. Chapter 4 expands on this in an analysis of the notion of "compositionality" with reference to the "stratificational" approach I find apparent in traditional work in Cognitive Science and the assumptions it disguises. Chapter 5 introduces the themes from neuroscience and the relations they have to the philosophical critique in Chapter 6. In Chapter 7, I demonstrate that the assumptions I have identified are present even in work motivated by a desire to leave behind the formalist program. I explain why this is the case and the implications this has for a correct view of "evidence" in Cognitive Science. At this point, I deal with pertinent objections to my view stemming from the parts of the discipline I have mentioned. Chapter 8 condenses the problem and shows the fundamentals of the whole problem in relief, suggesting what all of the preceding means for Cognitive Science

ESIIG2

331 p. , Il, Tablas, Gráficos.Libro ElectrónicoESIIG2 - The Second European Summit on Interoperability in the iGovernment, represents an unprecedented occasion to develop new synergies and create contacts with representatives of the European Commission, of the national and regional governments of Europe, of the research field, the Academia and experts of the ICT sector. Mrs Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission for Information Society and Media gave her official patronage to the Second European Summit of Interoperability in the iGovernment, ESIIG2. Event with the patronage CISIS (Italian Interregional Centre of Information and Statistic Systems) The European Commission initiative i2010, through the DG Information and Media Society offered its support to ESIIG2.ForewordXI ESIIG 3 What is ESIIG2? 3 Commissioner Reding message 4 ESIIG 2 Co - hosted events5 The Programme 6 ESIIG2 Supporters8 The Regional Ministry for consumer protection and administrative simplification13 The Technical and Scientific Committee15 Structure of the Technical and Scientific Committee15 What does the Committee do?15 Important and innovative initiatives of ESIIG 219 Publication of the Call for Papers Results23 T-Seniority: E-inclusion and Interoperability25 Alejandro Echeverria Security and Privacy Preserving Data in E-Government Integration31 Claudio Biancalana, Francesco Saverio Profiti Proposal for Interoperability Between Public Universities39 Correcher E, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain A Cross-Application Reference Model to Support Interoperability 53 Elena Baralis, Tania Cerquitelli, Silvana Raffa Table of Contents VII Applying Soa to Mobile Secure eGovernment Services The Sweb Approach65 Silke Cuno, Yuri Glickman, Petra Hoepner, Linda Strick An Identity Metasystem Approach to Improve Eid Interoperability and Assure Privacy Compliance 74 Andrea Valboni Towards Interoperable Infrastructures of Geospatial Data 86 Sergio Farruggia, Emanuele Roccatagliata Modernization and Administrative Simplification Master Plan for the Local Councils of the Region of Murcia 101 Leandro Marín Muñoz, Pedro Olivares Sánchez, Isabel Belmonte Martínez Organizational Interoperability and Organizing for Interoperability in eGovernment109 Ralf Cimander, Herbert Kubicek The National Interoperability Framework: a New Regulatory Tool to Guarantee Interoperability Among Spanish Public Administrations 123 Agustí Cerrillo The Realization of the Greek E-Gif 131 Andreas Papadakis, Kostas Rantos, Antonis Stasis Build Government Interoperability Through Open Standard Technology 141 Goodwin Ting, Anne Rasanen, Marco Pappalardo Towards an Intercultural Representation of Mediterranean Intangible Cultural Heritage (Ich) An Xml Interoperability Framework for Regional Ich Databases 154 Jesse Marsh, Francesco Passantino Castile and Leon, a Model of Interoperability 168 Isabel Alonso Sánchez, José Ignacio de Uribe Ladrón de Cegama, Antonio Francisco Pérez Fernández, Jorge Ordás Alonso The Catalan Interoperability Model182 Ignasi Albors Identity and Residence Verification Data System189 Nimia Rodríguez Escolar, Jose A Eusamio Mazagatos From Extended Enterprise to Extended Government: Regione Lazio Interoperability and Egovernment Point of View 199 Claudio Biancalana, Dante Chiroli, Claudio Pisu, Francesco Saverio Profiti, Fabio Raimondi Contribution by the Members of the Technical and Scientific Committee 215 Interoperability and Egovernment Through Adoption of Standards 215 Flavia Marzano A Brief Compendium on Interoperability in Egovernment 224 Michele M Missikoff Table of Contents VIII Spc – The Italian Interoperabilty Framework with Services241 Francesco Tortorelli, Roberto Baldoni Exploitation of Digital Contents for the Public Administration 254 Giulio De Petra, Fabrizio Gianneschi, Giaime Ginesu Deploying the full transformational power of egovernment – collaboration and interoperability –270 Sylvia Archmann, Just Castillo Iglesias ICAR Report: Interoperability and Cooperation between applications among Italian Regions (English summary)278 CISIS - Central Staff of ICAR Project List of the finalists of the iG20 Award 297 IG20 AWARDS: Eucaris, the European car and driving licence information system297 INNOVATIVNESS: Interopcyl299 TRANSFERABILITY: Semic, Semantic Interoperability Center Europe301 IMPACT: Employment/unemployment status management: actual interoperability through the CO eService303 PRACTICAL RESULTS: Emilia Romagna Labour Information System 305 The ESIIG2 Summit results: the creation of ERNI and the Interoperability Declaration of Rome 309 The Interoperability Declaration of Rome 311 Follow the new and interesting developments of Esiig2 31

Visionary Realism And The Emergence Of A Eudaimonistic Society: Metatheory In A Time Of Metacrisis

This thesis aims to support the conditions for the emergence of a eudaimonistic, freeflourishing planetary society by helping ignite the potentials of metatheory as a transformational cultural force vis-à-vis our complex twenty-first century challenges. I argue that metatheory in its appropriate form provides indispensable intellectual scaffolding for the crucial psycho-spiritual, cultural, and social transformations demanded by these interconnected global challenges, or what I call the metacrisis. I advance these aims, first, by reflection on the nature, role, and function of metatheory in geo-historical context, articulating a vision for the revindication of metatheory as integrative metatheory 2.0; and, second, the development of the contours of a particular metatheory through an exploratory-dialogical encounter between what are arguably amongst the most comprehensive and sophisticated integrative metatheories arising in the wake of postmodernism: namely, critical realism, founded by Roy Bhaskar (1944–2014), and integral theory, founded by Ken Wilber (1949–). Thus, in this thesis, I deploy the methodology of hermeneutical dialectics and the method of immanent critique to forge a non-preservative synthesis of aspects of these two metatheories into a new metatheory—a visionary realism—that might help us to better understand and wisely respond to the metacrisis. I then apply this visionary realist framework to sketch the contours of the metacrisis at large, analyzing and synthesizing the philosophical, cultural, and psychological aspects of the metacrisis to identify key principles and holistic solution patterns that may inform deliberate social transformation

The Relationships Among Cognitive, Spiritual, and Wisdom Development in Adults

This study explored whether (1) adult cognitive development correlates with spiritual development, (2) wisdom development mediates the relationship, and (3) age, gender, education level, socioeconomic status, or religious denomination are associated with level of cognitive, wisdom, or spiritual development. University students and alumni (N = 134) completed a demographic questionnaire, the Model of Hierarchical Complexity Helper-Person Problem (Commons & Pekkar, 2004), the Spiritual Assessment Inventory (Hall & Edwards, 1996, 2002), and the Self-Assessed Wisdom Scale (Webster, 2003). This study hypothesized that wisdom, understood to derive from both personality qualities and life experience, mediates the influence of cognitive development on spiritual. This research hoped to provide empirical support for understanding the direction and degree of influence of cognitive, wisdom, and spiritual development. Using structural equation modeling, spiritual development was measured only as awareness of God. Cognitive development correlated significantly with spiritual awareness with moderate effect size. An inverse relationship was found between wisdom development and spiritual awareness. Wisdom development did not mediate the impact of cognitive development on spiritual awareness. Gender, age, education level, socioeconomic status, and religious affiliation were not associated with cognitive, wisdom, or spiritual developmen