Composition mechanisms for retrenchment

Retrenchment is a flexible model evolution formalism that arose as a reaction to the limitations imposed by refinement, and for which the proof obligations feature additional predicates for accommodating design data. Composition mechanisms for retrenchment are studied. Vertical, horizontal, dataflow, parallel and fusion compositions are described. Of particular note are the means by which the additional predicates compose. It is argued that all of the compositions introduced are associative, and that they are mutually coherent. Composition of retrenchment with refinement, so important for the smooth interworking of the two techniques, is discussed. Decomposition, allowing finer grained retrenchments to be extracted from a single large grained retrenchment, is also investigated

High integrity hardware-software codesign

Programmable logic devices (PLDs) are increasing in complexity and speed, and are being used as important components in safety-critical systems. Methods for developing high-integrity software for these systems are well-known, but this is not true for programmable logic. We propose a process for developing a system incorporating software and PLDs, suitable for safety critical systems of the highest levels of integrity. This process incorporates the use of Synchronous Receptive Process Theory as a semantic basis for specifying and proving properties of programs executing on PLDs, and extends the use of SPARK Ada from a programming language for safety-critical systems software to cover the interface between software and programmable logic. We have validated this approach through the specification and development of a substantial safety-critical system incorporating both software and programmable logic components, and the development of tools to support this work. This enables us to claim that the methods demonstrated are not only feasible but also scale up to realistic system sizes, allowing development of such safety-critical software-hardware systems to the levels required by current system safety standards

East-West Paths to Unconventional Computing

Unconventional computing is about breaking boundaries in thinking, acting and computing. Typical topics of this non-typical field include, but are not limited to physics of computation, non-classical logics, new complexity measures, novel hardware, mechanical, chemical and quantum computing. Unconventional computing encourages a new style of thinking while practical applications are obtained from uncovering and exploiting principles and mechanisms of information processing in and functional properties of, physical, chemical and living systems; in particular, efficient algorithms are developed, (almost) optimal architectures are designed and working prototypes of future computing devices are manufactured. This article includes idiosyncratic accounts of ‘unconventional computing’ scientists reflecting on their personal experiences, what attracted them to the field, their inspirations and discoveries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Development of a Composite Transmission Electrical Network Utilisation Comparative Study Index

Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.242 Leaves printed single pages, preliminary pages i-viii and numberd pages. Includes bibliography. Tables and figures.ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The aim of the proposed study was to develop an electrical utility organisational performance measure indicator that measures electrical network utilisation (U) for the actual maximum demand and total energy transferred. The scope of the study extended itself to include reliability and exogenous considerations. The scope of the research study included three primary variables with secondary variables as the performance measures. The available data was screened and filtered from outliers, and thereafter, multivariate analysis was applied in deriving the overall linear equation for each of the above primary variables. The statistical process included the application of principal component analysis and factor analysis, a comparison between the two, and the derivation of linear equations. The study produced linear equations relating to the former. The primary variables were presented in the form of a 3-Dimensional scatter plot. Each variable was inspected for linearity and clustering to validate the results and include any previously excluded outliers that complied with linear functionality. A practical application of the research findings was included. This included the extremes of linearity and clustering. The research concludes with further research opportunities in this study direction.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:Die doel van hierdie ondersoek was om 'n maatstaf te ontwikkel wat elektrisiteitsverskaffers in staat stel om die effektiwiteit en benutting van die elektriese transmissienetwerk te meet. Dit sluit die maksimum aanvraag en totale hoeveelheid energie wat deur die transmissienetwerk oorgedra word in. Die omvang van die studie is uitgebrei om ook eksterne faktore en betroubaarheidsoorwegings in te sluit. Die beskikbare inligting is gekeur en gefilter om uitskieters uit te skakel en daarna is multivariate analise gebruik om 'n lineêre vergelyking vir elk van die primêre veranderlikes te ontwikkel. Die statistiese analise het onder andere van hoofkomponente analise en faktor analise gebruik gemaak. 'n Vergelyking tussen die twee metodes is gemaak en liniêre vergelykings is afgelei. Die primere veranderlikes was gesamelik getoon in n’ 3-dimensionele grafik. Die lineariteit en groepering van elke veranderlike is egter ondersoek om die resultate te staaf en enige uitskieters wat voorheen uitgesluit is maar wel aan die lineêre verband voldoen het in te sluit. 'n Praktiese toepassing van die bevindings was uitgevoer en het die uiterstes van lineariteit en groepering ingesluit. Die ondersoek word afgesluit met 'n bespreking van moontlike verdere navorsingsgeleenthede

National family allegory: Irish men and post-independence novels and film

This dissertation explores the ideological functions of the National Family Allegory in post-Independence novels and film created by male authors and film directors. Ideology functions as a lingering force in service of the status quo, the current power structure, and these works recreate the same family structures as those established during colonization and through national myth. The roles of Mother Ireland, savior sons, and failing fathers repeat, sometimes through creative means. Although the texts attempt to subvert the allegory, many post-Independence works eventually show the traditional and conservative family structure of the National Family Allegory. The first chapter, “Importantly Motherless: Spontaneous Child Creation and Male Maternity,” analyzes the connection between the missing Mother figure and male fantasies of pregnancy and child creation. Because of the lack of stable family structure, usually connected to early childhood abandonment or mistreatment, the novels discussed in this chapter show the absolute necessity of family in creating a personal and national identity. In the second chapter, “’You Can’t Protect Your Women’”: Male Irish Terrorists as Protector in Popular American and Irish Films, 1984-1998,” the young man/son protagonist in his role as protector of the woman/Mother figure is analyzed in six different films. In the third chapter, “Articulation and Stasis: The Son as Haunted Echo of the Father in McCann’s Songdogs,” discusses the father and son dynamic in relation to the missing mother in this diasporic novel to indicate that the Irish National Family Allegory holds true even during the dispersion of post-Famine Irish identity. The last chapter, “Failing Fathers,” examines the father figure in Roddy Doyle’s A Star Called Henry, Patrick McCabe’s The Butcher Boy, and John McGahern’s Amongst Women. A father’s traditional role is to function in the public sphere and also to control the family, yet each of these father’s fail in their roles, which is typical of the National Family Allegory role established within the literature

The Mystery of Iniquity: Melville as Poet, 1857–1891

This book is the first to consider the work of Herman Melville’s later years as a whole, in the light of his life and reading during those years and of the intellectual and artistic ambience of the later nineteenth century. With the exception of Billy Budd, almost all of the writing Melville produced between 1857 and 1891 is poetry. Until now little attention has been given to the poetry and it has been customary to view Melville’s final masterpiece, Billy Budd, against the background of the earlier fiction—almost as if the writing of the intervening thirty-four years had not existed. William H. Shurr, who has studied the poems with close attention to the Melville manuscripts in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, contends that Melville’s poetry merits more attention and appreciation than has hitherto been accorded it. Concerned principally with the maturation of Melville’s darker themes, he has been the first to study the carefully designed sequences in which Melville published his poems. He has also discovered in the poems thematic patterns—among them Melville’s heterodox Christology and his concept of a particular kind of individualism found in what he calls the “transcendent act”—that shed new light on the complexities of Billy Budd. William H. Shurr holds the S.T.L. (theology) from Loyola University and the Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina. He teaches English at Washington State University and serves on the editorial boards of Poe Studies and Emerson Society Quarterly. The Mystery of Iniquity is the 1971 SAMLA Studies Award co-winner.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_english_language_and_literature_north_america/1031/thumbnail.jp

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse