Making Compact-Table Compact

The compact-table propagator for table constraints appears to be a strong candidate for inclusion into any constraint solver due to its efficiency and simplicity. However, successful integration into a constraint solver based on copying rather than trailing is not obvious: while the underlying bit-set data structure is sparse for efficiency it is not compact for memory, which is essential for a copying solver. The paper introduces techniques to make compact-table an excellent fit for a copying solver. The key is to make sparse bit-sets dynamically compact (only their essential parts occupy memory and their implementation is dynamically adapted during search) and tables shared (their read-only parts are shared among copies). Dynamically compact bit-sets reduce peak memory by 7.2% and runtime by 13.6% on average and by up to 66.3% and 33.2%. Shared tables even further reduce runtime and memory usage. The reduction in runtime exceeds the reduction in memory and a cache analysis indicates that our techniques might also be beneficial for trailing solvers. The proposed implementation has replaced Gecode’s original implementations as it runs on average almost an order of magnitude faster while using half the memory.QC 20181113</p

Innover autrement ? : la recherche face à l'avènement d'un nouveau régime de production et de régulation des savoirs en génétique végétale

International audienc

Eliminative behaviour of free-ranging horses: do they show latrine behaviour or do they defecate where they graze?

In contrast to horses in pastures, it is thought that free-ranging horses do not perform latrine behaviour, i.e. a behavioural pattern whereby the animals graze and defecate in separate areas. However, few studies deal with this particular subject, reporting contrasting conclusions. We hypothesize that horses free-ranging in large heterogeneous areas do not perform latrine behaviour. Thus, we believe that grazing and elimination behaviour are spatially related: where horses graze, they will also defecate. Behavioural data were collected from Konik horses, Haflinger horses, Shetland ponies and donkeys, grazing in different nature reserves (54–80 ha). Data for the different equids were analyzed separately, as well as data for mares and stallions (Konik and donkey stallions only). We investigated the proportion of the number of defecations/urinations while grazing on the total number of defecations/urinations; furthermore, we searched for the sequence of behaviours representing latrine behaviour in the strict sense. Additionally, we analyzed the correlation between grazing behaviour and eliminative behaviour on both vegetation type level and patch level. All the female equids often continued grazing while defecating. During urination, grazing ceases in the majority of instances. Cases where a mare terminated grazing in a certain vegetation type and sward height to eliminate in another vegetation type or in another sward height within the same vegetation type were rarely observed. On the vegetation type level as well as on the patch level, there was a highly significant (Pr ranges between 0.553 and 0.955; in case of the urination variables r ranges between 0.370 and 0.839) illustrate that the spatial distribution of the eliminative behaviour can be explained to a high degree by the spatial distribution of the grazing behaviour. Results in the case of the stallions are preliminary, but indicate the same pattern. Horses, free-ranging in large heterogeneous areas, do not perform latrine behaviour, but defecate where they graze. Possibly, animal density is of major importance to explain this behavioural difference with horses in pastures. We suggest that also spatial vegetation heterogeneity and plant productivity of the grazed area, as well as parasite status of the grazing animals could play a role

A physiology based inverse dynamic analysis of human gait: potential and perspectives

One approach to compute the musculotendon forces that underlie human motion is to combine an inverse dynamic analysis with a static optimisation procedure. Although computationally efficient, this classical inverse approach fails to incorporate constraints imposed by muscle physiology. The present paper reports on a physiological inverse approach (PIA) that combines an inverse dynamic analysis with a dynamic optimisation procedure. This allows the incorporation of a full description of muscle activation and contraction dynamics, without loss of computational efficiency. A comparison of muscle excitations and MT-forces predicted by the classical and the PIA is presented for normal and pathological gait. Inclusion of muscle physiology primarily affects the rate of active muscle force build-up and decay and allows the estimation of passive muscle force. Consequently, it influences the onset and cessation of the predicted muscle excitations as well as the level of co-contraction.status: publishe