Constructing the Views Framework

Abstract. The views framework of Dinsdale-Young and others unifies several compositional techniques for reasoning about concurrent programs. This paper uses simple mathematics to construct the views framework incrementally from first principles. The result is a model for the views framework, which can also be understood as an independent theory of concurrent programs. Along the lines of “sequential programs are binary relations”, the theory adopts the maxim “con-current programs are formal languages”. Consequently, programs obey familiar algebraic laws that can simplify reasoning; there is no need to postulate opera-tional rules; the views program logic can be constructed in a stepwise fashion from more basic logics; program logic and operational thinking become largely decoupled; proving partial correctness becomes straightforward and it holds irre-spectively of the specific choice of programming language constructs, operational rules, and the atomic actions that are implemented in a computer. All theorems have been formally checked with Isabelle/HOL. A proof script is available online. Key words: semantics, formal languages, concurrency, programming calculi

Is Future-Oriented Mental Time Travel Inextricably Linked to the Self?

Ganeri's [2018] discussion of mental time travel and the self focuses on remembering the past, but has less to say with respect to the status of future-oriented mental time travel. This paper aims to disambiguate the relation between prospection and the self from the framework of Ganeri's interpretation of three Buddhist views—by Buddhaghosa, Vasubandhu, and Dignaga. Is the scope of Ganeri's discussion confined to the past, or is there a stronger assumption that future thought always entails self-representation? I argue that if mental time travel towards the past and towards the future are continuous, both past and future thought should be possible independently of self-representation. An assumption of discontinuity however would enable the employment of the self as one of the defining differences between remembering the past and imagining the future. The two options can be further contrasted on the basis of distinct ways of constructing past/future scenarios (field vs. observer perspective), modes of experiencing time (known vs. lived), and the origin of mental time travel (episodic vs. semantic memory). I further assess the compatibility of future-oriented thought with the three Buddhist views on the basis of these coordinates

The development of a performance measurement framework for FE/HE co-location construction projects

Project success is understood differently by project participants because it is multifaceted, requiring many performance measures to determine success. Previous studies have underrepresented the business context of projects and their role in contributing to the success of the instigating organisation. This issue becomes particularly significant when two or more further and higher education (FE/HE) organisations co-locate their educational operations on a shared site and seek diverse goals from a single project. The relationship between construction project success and long-term educational success created the need for a comprehensive performance measurement framework that defines the contribution of the construction project in supporting FE/HE collaborating institutions through providing a learning environment that enhances the shared educational activities. This study explores the success of constructing a co-located further and higher education (FE/HE) campus when a project definition that continues beyond construction project completion and commissioning, and which encompasses the client’s views of expected business benefits, is adopted. The research developed a measurement framework capable of measuring the performance of FE/HE co-location construction projects, in light of this broader definition. The methodology used to achieve the research aim, influenced by the pragmatic views of the researcher, combined several methods. A focus group identified success criteria for constructing FE/HE co-location campuses. A questionnaire survey elicited the relationships between success criteria from representatives of the directors, senior administrators, and estates managers of further and higher education providers throughout Scotland. Finally, a Delphi survey validated the performance measurement framework by capturing the views of experts in FE/HE co-location. The thesis contributes a comprehensive performance measurement framework structured around two distinctive performance perspectives (performance drivers and performance results) which incorporates multiple project success dimensions and measures. The framework provides a structured way of aggregating performance measures to characterise the representation of thematic performance dimensions

Religious Vehicle Stickers in Nigeria: a discourse of identity, faith and social vision

This study focuses on analysing the ways in which vehicle stickers construct individual and group identities, people’s religious faith and social vision in the context of religious assumptions and practices in Nigeria. Data comprise 73 vehicle stickers collected in Lagos and Ota, between 2006 and 2007 and are analysed within the framework of the post-structuralist model of discourse analysis which views discourse as a product of a complex system of social and institutional practices that sustain its continuous existence (Derrida, 1982; Fairclough, 1989, 1992, 1995; Foucault, 1972, 1981). Results show that through stickers people define their individual and group identities within religious institutional practices. And as a means of group identification, they guarantee social security and privileges. In constructing social vision the stickers help mould the individual aspiration about a future which transcends the present. Significantly, stickers in the data also reveal the tension between Islam and Christianity and the struggle to propagate one above the other. KEY WORDS: assumption, discourse, discursive, practices, religion, stickers

Revisiting the Efficacy of Constructivism in Mathematics Education

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse and discuss the views of constructivism, on the teaching and learning of mathematics. I provide a background to the learning of mathematics as constructing and reconstructing knowledge in the form of new conceptual networks; the nature, role and possibilities of constructivism as a learning theoretical framework in Mathematics Education. I look at the major criticisms and conclude that it passes the test of a learning theoretical framework but there is still a gap between theory and mathematics classroom practice

A conceptual framework for development of sustainable development indicators

There was a boom in the development of sustainable development indicators (SDIs) after notion of sustainability became popular through Bruntland Commission's report. Since then numerous efforts have been made worldwide in constructing SDIs at global, national and local scales, but in India not a single city has registered any initiative for indicator development . Motivated by this dearth of studies added to the prevailing sustainability risks in million plus cities in India, a research is being undertaken at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development and Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India, to develop a set of sustainable indicators to study the resource dynamics of the city of Mumbai. As a first step in the process, the ground for development of SDIs is prepared through the development of a framework. A multi-view black box (MVBB) framework has been constructed by eliminating the system component from the extended urban metabolism model (EUMM) and introducing three-dimensional views of economic efficiency (EE), social wellbeing (SW), and ecological acceptability (EA). Domain-based classification was adopted to facilitate a scientifically credible set of indicators. The important domain areas are identified and applying MVBB framework, a model has been developed for each domain.Urban metabolism, Resources transformation, Economic efficiency, Society, Ecology, Monitoring and evaluation, City development, Black box, Productization of process

Graph matching with a dual-step EM algorithm

This paper describes a new approach to matching geometric structure in 2D point-sets. The novel feature is to unify the tasks of estimating transformation geometry and identifying point-correspondence matches. Unification is realized by constructing a mixture model over the bipartite graph representing the correspondence match and by affecting optimization using the EM algorithm. According to our EM framework, the probabilities of structural correspondence gate contributions to the expected likelihood function used to estimate maximum likelihood transformation parameters. These gating probabilities measure the consistency of the matched neighborhoods in the graphs. The recovery of transformational geometry and hard correspondence matches are interleaved and are realized by applying coupled update operations to the expected log-likelihood function. In this way, the two processes bootstrap one another. This provides a means of rejecting structural outliers. We evaluate the technique on two real-world problems. The first involves the matching of different perspective views of 3.5-inch floppy discs. The second example is furnished by the matching of a digital map against aerial images that are subject to severe barrel distortion due to a line-scan sampling process. We complement these experiments with a sensitivity study based on synthetic data