Non-Termination Inference of Logic Programs

We present a static analysis technique for non-termination inference of logic programs. Our framework relies on an extension of the subsumption test, where some specific argument positions can be instantiated while others are generalized. We give syntactic criteria to statically identify such argument positions from the text of a program. Atomic left looping queries are generated bottom-up from selected subsets of the binary unfoldings of the program of interest. We propose a set of correct algorithms for automating the approach. Then, non-termination inference is tailored to attempt proofs of optimality of left termination conditions computed by a termination inference tool. An experimental evaluation is reported. When termination and non-termination analysis produce complementary results for a logic procedure, then with respect to the leftmost selection rule and the language used to describe sets of atomic queries, each analysis is optimal and together, they induce a characterization of the operational behavior of the logic procedure.Comment: Long version (algorithms and proofs included) of a paper submitted to TOPLA

A complex systems approach to education in Switzerland

The insights gained from the study of complex systems in biological, social, and engineered systems enables us not only to observe and understand, but also to actively design systems which will be capable of successfully coping with complex and dynamically changing situations. The methods and mindset required for this approach have been applied to educational systems with their diverse levels of scale and complexity. Based on the general case made by Yaneer Bar-Yam, this paper applies the complex systems approach to the educational system in Switzerland. It confirms that the complex systems approach is valid. Indeed, many recommendations made for the general case have already been implemented in the Swiss education system. To address existing problems and difficulties, further steps are recommended. This paper contributes to the further establishment complex systems approach by shedding light on an area which concerns us all, which is a frequent topic of discussion and dispute among politicians and the public, where billions of dollars have been spent without achieving the desired results, and where it is difficult to directly derive consequences from actions taken. The analysis of the education system's different levels, their complexity and scale will clarify how such a dynamic system should be approached, and how it can be guided towards the desired performance

Digital media and women’s issues in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

This thesis investigates how digital media participate in and contribute to the emergence and discussion of women’s issues in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in complex intersections of online and offline activity. Specific focus is placed on digital media’s intrinsic complexity and agency, and their interplay with socio-political, economic, legal, and cultural practices. I will specifically ask questions such as, how does an issue work through technological forms of development, and how is it techno-socio-political? How do digital media enrich, reshape, and co-constitute women’s issues in Egypt and Saudi Arabia? In answering these questions, I explore how certain women’s issues are formed, emerge, and become central in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. These explorations involve a reflection on the computational turn of current cultural and social practices2 and the significance of algorithms and software in the making of our socio-cultural realities. They also necessitate an understanding of the countries’ locales, accounts of women’s movements, struggles, and discourses that, inevitably, involve Islamic Tradition. Asking such questions also means exploring how online activities enrich current discourses of women and gender studies in a Middle Eastern context. The resulting work sits In between a number of disciplines and approaches and calls for a bespoke conceptual and methodological approach, built on a combination of methodologies, including close reading of history and literature on the topic, and qualitative and quantitative analysis of digital content through digital media tools. For this purpose I have employed software such as Gephi, Netvizz, and MOZ SERP. Moving beyond an understanding of media as a tool and construing them as constitutive parts of an entangled network made of heterogeneous actants, I introduce the concept of a multi-layered and networked map. This concept is a mode of investigation and a tool of analysis that seeks to understand and discuss the diverse and continuous transformations of certain women’s issues in these two countries as they emerge and evolve online. The visualisations of the quantitative part of my analysis are published on the website that I have created, available at http://www.oxycoms.com/clb. This thesis tries to find a location at the intersection of digital media, gender studies, and studies of the Middle East. At times, specific problematic aspects of each field are at odds with each other, and I attend to the ways in which they touch and contradict each other. Through the concept of the multi-layered and networked map I will trace and follow the intersection of theoretical thoughts, accounts of women’s activities and movements, online activities, and findings of the new methodologies and tools of online social networking analysis. I will discuss how they combine and coalesce, bringing to life what I address as technowomen. I hope to contribute to the current theoretical and methodological discussions in digital media, media, and cultural studies, to discussions in women and gender studies on the digitised reality of movements and activities

Atti del IX Convegno Annuale dell'Associazione per l'Informatica Umanistica e la Cultura Digitale (AIUCD). La svolta inevitabile: sfide e prospettive per l'Informatica Umanistica

Proceedings of the IX edition of the annual AIUCD conferenc

Atti del IX Convegno Annuale AIUCD. La svolta inevitabile: sfide e prospettive per l'Informatica Umanistica.

La nona edizione del convegno annuale dell'Associazione per l'Informatica Umanistica e la Cultura Digitale (AIUCD 2020; Milano, 15-17 gennaio 2020) ha come tema “La svolta inevitabile: sfide e prospettive per l'Informatica Umanistica”, con lo specifico obiettivo di fornire un'occasione per riflettere sulle conseguenze della crescente diffusione dell’approccio computazionale al trattamento dei dati connessi all’ambito umanistico. Questo volume raccoglie gli articoli i cui contenuti sono stati presentati al convegno. A diversa stregua, essi affrontano il tema proposto da un punto di vista ora più teorico-metodologico, ora più empirico-pratico, presentando i risultati di lavori e progetti (conclusi o in corso) che considerino centrale il trattamento computazionale dei dati