On Computational Small Steps and Big Steps: Refocusing for Outermost Reduction

We study the relationship between small-step semantics, big-step semantics and abstract machines, for programming languages that employ an outermost reduction strategy, i.e., languages where reductions near the root of the abstract syntax tree are performed before reductions near the leaves.In particular, we investigate how Biernacka and Danvy's syntactic correspondence and Reynolds's functional correspondence can be applied to inter-derive semantic specifications for such languages.The main contribution of this dissertation is three-fold:First, we identify that backward overlapping reduction rules in the small-step semantics cause the refocusing step of the syntactic correspondence to be inapplicable.Second, we propose two solutions to overcome this in-applicability: backtracking and rule generalization.Third, we show how these solutions affect the other transformations of the two correspondences.Other contributions include the application of the syntactic and functional correspondences to Boolean normalization.In particular, we show how to systematically derive a spectrum of normalization functions for negational and conjunctive normalization

Developing a model of peace education in the undergraduate teacher training process for early childhood education at Rajabhat Universities, Thailand

The conflict and violence of both the unrest in the southernmost provinces which claimed thousands civilians and officials in the last few years and the deep social division among the people throughout the country make peace education as a key tool for solving these problems for Thailand. The role of teacher education has been used for solving these conflicts. This study explores the universities’ policy on peace education in the teacher training process of the early childhood education programmes of Rajabhat Universities as the biggest groups of universities in teacher training across the country. Two main research questions were explored: 1) has peace education been delivered in early childhood education programmes of Rajabhat Universities in Thailand? and 2) if so, how does it differ across universities? The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the phenomenon in two Rajabhat Universities. Quantitative methods employed questionnaires to collect data from students of both universities from the first to fifth year (N=100). The data from both universities has been analysed by the Mann Whitney U Rank test (p<0.05). Qualitative methods employed semi-structured interviews to collect data from six chief administrators, ten lecturers in the Early Childhood Education Programmes, and four experts in peace outside the university. Four focus groups composed of five students in each group were used to collect data from the first- and fourth-year students of both universities. Collected documentations relating to curricula were analysed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings presented four key areas: University’s Policies on Peace Education; Teaching, Learning and Curriculum about Peace Study in RUs; Participants’ Ideas about Peace Studies; and Culture, Climate and Peace Studies in the RUs’ Contexts. The findings from quantitative and qualitative methods were integrated into the Peace Education Model of Rajabhat Universities (PEMRU) framework. The findings revealed that the policies of Rajabhat Universities have included peace education in teacher training programmes. However, very few policies have been named directly. Peace education has been integrated into classroom activities and universities’ activities as well as the universities’ regulations. The significant differences across universities were found in that one university had both direct and indirect policies on peace education whilst never officially naming them. The other university had both direct and indirect policies on peace education, which in contrast, were promulgated officially by the University Council. The study also found that the concept of peace in the Thai context was a combination of outer and inner peace; the role of the teachers was emphasised as a method of teaching peace education. Finally, the key concepts emerging from the analyses were developed into the Proposed Model of Peace Education for Rajabhat Universities. This model was composed of the concepts of peace and peace education in the Thai contexts as the centre of the model to work with; the three main components were the dynamic work-units (university’s policy, peace education centre, peace education curriculum); and five influential components surrounding the model as the supporters and conditions to work with (politics and government, religions and cultures, economic and equality, environment and responsibility, and ethnicity and identity). This proposed model is hoped to be a dynamic, rapid and sustainable way to solve conflicts and violence in the country

Überblick zur Softwareentwicklung in Wissenschaftlichen Anwendungen

Viele wissenschaftliche Disziplinen müssen heute immer komplexer werdende numerische Probleme lösen. Die Komplexität der benutzten wissenschaftlichen Software steigt dabei kontinuierlich an. Diese Komplexitätssteigerung wird durch eine ganze Reihe sich ändernder Anforderungen verursacht: Die Betrachtung gekoppelter Phänomene gewinnt Aufmerksamkeit und gleichzeitig müssen neue Technologien wie das Grid-Computing oder neue Multiprozessorarchitekturen genutzt werden, um weiterhin in angemessener Zeit zu Berechnungsergebnissen zu kommen. Diese Fülle an neuen Anforderungen kann nicht mehr von kleinen spezialisierten Wissenschaftlergruppen in Isolation bewältigt werden. Die Entwicklung wissenschaftlicher Software muss vielmehr in interdisziplinären Gruppen geschehen, was neue Herausforderungen in der Softwareentwicklung induziert. Ein Paradigmenwechsel zu einer stärkeren Separation von Verantwortlichkeiten innerhalb interdisziplinärer Entwicklergruppen ist bis jetzt in vielen Fällen nur in Ansätzen erkennbar. Die Kopplung partitioniert durchgeführter Simulationen physikalischer Phänomene ist ein wichtiges Beispiel für softwaretechnisch herausfordernde Aufgaben im Gebiet des wissenschaftlichen Rechnens. In diesem Kontext modellieren verschiedene Simulationsprogramme unterschiedliche Teile eines komplexeren gekoppelten Systems. Die vorliegende Arbeit gibt einen Überblick über Paradigmen, die darauf abzielen Softwareentwicklung für Berechnungsprogramme verlässlicher und weniger abhängig voneinander zu machen. Ein spezielles Augenmerk liegt auf der Entwicklung gekoppelter Simulationen.Fields of modern science and engineering are in need of solving more and more complex numerical problems. The complexity of scientific software thereby rises continuously. This growth is caused by a number of changing requirements. Coupled phenomena gain importance and new technologies like the computational Grid, graphical and heterogeneous multi-core processors have to be used to achieve high-performance. The amount of additional complexity can not be handled by small groups of specialised scientists. The interdiciplinary nature of scientific software thereby presents new challanges for software engineering. A paradigm shift towards a stronger separation of concerns becomes necessary in the development of future scientific software. The coupling of independently simulated physical phenomena is an important example for a software-engineering concern in the domain of computational science. In this context, different simulation-programs model only a part of a more complex coupled system. The present work gives overview on paradigms which aim at making software-development in computational sciences more reliable and less interdependent. A special focus is put on the development of coupled simulations

The usability of software for authoring and editing

This research investigates some of the reasons for the reported difficulties experienced by writers when using editing software designed for structured documents. The overall objective was to determine if there are aspects of the software interfaces which militate against optimal document construction by writers who are not computer experts, and to suggest possible remedies. Studies were undertaken to explore the nature and extent of the difficulties, and to identify which components of the software interfaces are involved. A model of a revised user interface was tested, and some possible adaptations to the interface are proposed which may help overcome the difficulties. The methodology comprised: 1. identification and description of the nature of a ‘structured document’ and what distinguishes it from other types of document used on computers; 2. isolation of the requirements of users of such documents, and the construction a set of personas which describe them; 3. evaluation of other work on the interaction between humans and computers, specifically in software for creating and editing structured documents; 4. estimation of the levels of adoption of the available software for editing structured documents and the reactions of existing users to it, with specific reference to difficulties encountered in using it; 5. examination of the software and identification of any mismatches between the expectations of users and the facilities provided by the software; 6. assessment of any physical or psychological factors in the reported difficulties experienced, and to determine what (if any) changes to the software might affect these. The conclusions are that seven of the twelve modifications tested could contribute to an improvement in usability, effectiveness, and efficiency when writing structured text (new document selection; adding new sections and new lists; identifying key information typographically; the creation of cross-references and bibliographic references; and the inclusion of parts of other documents). The remaining five were seen as more applicable to editing existing material than authoring new text (adding new elements; splitting and joining elements [before and after]; and moving block text)

Women writers from the Francophone and Hispanic Caribbean at the close of the twentieth century : en-gendering Caribbeanness

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN054766 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo