Synthesising Graphical Theories

In recent years, diagrammatic languages have been shown to be a powerful and expressive tool for reasoning about physical, logical, and semantic processes represented as morphisms in a monoidal category. In particular, categorical quantum mechanics, or "Quantum Picturalism", aims to turn concrete features of quantum theory into abstract structural properties, expressed in the form of diagrammatic identities. One way we search for these properties is to start with a concrete model (e.g. a set of linear maps or finite relations) and start composing generators into diagrams and looking for graphical identities. Naively, we could automate this procedure by enumerating all diagrams up to a given size and check for equalities, but this is intractable in practice because it produces far too many equations. Luckily, many of these identities are not primitive, but rather derivable from simpler ones. In 2010, Johansson, Dixon, and Bundy developed a technique called conjecture synthesis for automatically generating conjectured term equations to feed into an inductive theorem prover. In this extended abstract, we adapt this technique to diagrammatic theories, expressed as graph rewrite systems, and demonstrate its application by synthesising a graphical theory for studying entangled quantum states.Comment: 10 pages, 22 figures. Shortened and one theorem adde

Constellations of public organic food procurement for youth. An interdisciplinary analytical tool

The research project “innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth” (iPOPY) combines a multitude of national and disciplinary perspectives: a necessary condition for a holistic understanding of public organic food procurement for youth (POPY). One challenge of such a research agenda lies in the integration of diverse results. This calls for an interdisciplinary research approach that facilitates discussion about results generated in different work packages (WP). This report sketches the methodological tool constellation analysis, one of the basic assumptions of which is that technical, natural and social elements and developments are closely intertwined and can only be analysed by taking into account their heterogeneity. Constellation analysis may serve as a bridging concept for the integration and synthesis of project results, which is a task of WP 1. This report presents preliminary results from an explorative constellation analysis of (organic) school meals. In the appendix, a list of definitions with regard to POPY is provided – the iPOPY glossary, which may later be further developed and published separately

Nets, relations and linking diagrams

In recent work, the author and others have studied compositional algebras of Petri nets. Here we consider mathematical aspects of the pure linking algebras that underly them. We characterise composition of nets without places as the composition of spans over appropriate categories of relations, and study the underlying algebraic structures.Comment: 15 pages, Proceedings of 5th Conference on Algebra and Coalgebra in Computer Science (CALCO), Warsaw, Poland, 3-6 September 201

New Methods, Current Trends and Software Infrastructure for NLP

The increasing use of `new methods' in NLP, which the NeMLaP conference series exemplifies, occurs in the context of a wider shift in the nature and concerns of the discipline. This paper begins with a short review of this context and significant trends in the field. The review motivates and leads to a set of requirements for support software of general utility for NLP research and development workers. A freely-available system designed to meet these requirements is described (called GATE - a General Architecture for Text Engineering). Information Extraction (IE), in the sense defined by the Message Understanding Conferences (ARPA \cite{Arp95}), is an NLP application in which many of the new methods have found a home (Hobbs \cite{Hob93}; Jacobs ed. \cite{Jac92}). An IE system based on GATE is also available for research purposes, and this is described. Lastly we review related work.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, uses nemlap.sty (included

A practical review of energy saving technology for ageing populations

Fuel poverty is a critical issue for a globally ageing population. Longer heating/cooling requirements combine with declining incomes to create a problem in need of urgent attention. One solution is to deploy technology to help elderly users feel informed about their energy use, and empowered to take steps to make it more cost effective and efficient. This study subjects a broad cross section of energy monitoring and home automation products to a formal ergonomic analysis. A high level task analysis was used to guide a product walk through, and a toolkit approach was used thereafter to drive out further insights. The findings reveal a number of serious usability issues which prevent these products from successfully accessing an important target demographic and associated energy saving and fuel poverty outcomes. Design principles and examples are distilled from the research to enable practitioners to translate the underlying research into high quality design-engineering solutions

Leveraging academic knowledge in the innovation ecosystem

Scientific advancement and advancements in information technology have increased our capability for sharing information, and spreading scientific discoveries throughout society. In the past decade the Dutch government has been trying to stimulate the knowledge economy through various means. Among them the stimulation of the founding of the Dutch Centres for Entrepreneurship, and the Valorisation programme. However, over the years, publication volume has become the main indicator for being a successful scientist. This focus on publications and research disincentivizes scientists from activities that generate more concrete value for society. The Societal Impact Value Cycle seeks to offer scientists and others a toolbox for visualising and understanding the way innovation can be fostered, and how other processes can foster scientific research in return. It also maps the way by which an innovation ecosystem generates socio-economic value from academic activities. It should be noted that not all scientific research leads to innovations that generate value for society, and not all research is intended to change the course of events. Nonetheless, fostering cooperation between research institutes and societal stakeholders, and increasing awareness of how entrepreneurial skills and activities could not only lead to a return on investments necessary for scientific advancement, but also increase the societal impact from academic endeavours. This could benefit our society, and societies worldwide, both socially and economically. This publication will offer valuable insight and an effective toolbox for people interested in socio-economic value creation from scientific research, or, in other words, valorisation. Therewith, it lays at the heart of Stichting Maatschappij en Onderneming’s daily occupations and our close cooperation with the Erasmus University Rotterdam