Inference of termination conditions for numerical loops in Prolog

We present a new approach to termination analysis of numerical computations in logic programs. Traditional approaches fail to analyse them due to non well-foundedness of the integers. We present a technique that allows overcoming these difficulties. Our approach is based on transforming a program in a way that allows integrating and extending techniques originally developed for analysis of numerical computations in the framework of query-mapping pairs with the well-known framework of acceptability. Such an integration not only contributes to the understanding of termination behaviour of numerical computations, but also allows us to perform a correct analysis of such computations automatically, by extending previous work on a constraint-based approach to termination. Finally, we discuss possible extensions of the technique, including incorporating general term orderings.Comment: To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming. To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programmin

A Low Density Lattice Decoder via Non-Parametric Belief Propagation

The recent work of Sommer, Feder and Shalvi presented a new family of codes called low density lattice codes (LDLC) that can be decoded efficiently and approach the capacity of the AWGN channel. A linear time iterative decoding scheme which is based on a message-passing formulation on a factor graph is given. In the current work we report our theoretical findings regarding the relation between the LDLC decoder and belief propagation. We show that the LDLC decoder is an instance of non-parametric belief propagation and further connect it to the Gaussian belief propagation algorithm. Our new results enable borrowing knowledge from the non-parametric and Gaussian belief propagation domains into the LDLC domain. Specifically, we give more general convergence conditions for convergence of the LDLC decoder (under the same assumptions of the original LDLC convergence analysis). We discuss how to extend the LDLC decoder from Latin square to full rank, non-square matrices. We propose an efficient construction of sparse generator matrix and its matching decoder. We report preliminary experimental results which show our decoder has comparable symbol to error rate compared to the original LDLC decoder.%Comment: Submitted for publicatio

Inference of termination conditions for numerical loops

We present a new approach to termination analysis of numerical computations in logic programs. Traditional approaches fail to analyse them due to non well-foundedness of the integers. We present a technique that allows to overcome these difficulties. Our approach is based on transforming a program in way that allows integrating and extending techniques originally developed for analysis of numerical computations in the framework of query-mapping pairs with the well-known framework of acceptability. Such an integration not only contributes to the understanding of termination behaviour of numerical computations, but also allows to perform a correct analysis of such computations automatically, thus, extending previous work on a constraints-based approach to termination. In the last section of the paper we discuss possible extensions of the technique, including incorporating general term orderings.Comment: Presented at WST200

Human Capital Risk and the Firmsize Wage Premium

Why do employed persons in large firms earn more than employed persons in small firms, even after controlling for observable characteristics? Complementary to previous results, this paper proposes a mechanism that gives an answer to this question. In the model, individuals accumulate human capital and are exposed to the risk of losing some of their human capital as they change jobs, voluntarily or involuntarily. The model, calibrated to the United States and Canada, accounts for one-third of the firmsize wage premium. Regarding the earnings gap between Canada and the United States, the model finds that it is solely due to differences in labor market uncertainty.Economic models; Labour markets; Productivity

Reviews of Some ODEI Programs

Danny Alexander reviews the accomplishments of the ODEI\u27s programs on the campus of Johnson County Community College

My Diversity

The author explores the complicated depth of the word diversity , highlighting under-thought meanings the term may imply

What I Learned from My Year as Program Director for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Danny Alexander shares his thoughts on the progress made in the ODEI during his year as Program Director

Across the Borders

The singing over the opening bass and synth carried a quaver that sounded a little like American Indian song, but this was clearly hip-hop even before the Arabic rhymes started cascading one after another. And all of that musical color served as a perfect complement to the slide show Sara Jawhari showed of her trip to the Gaza strip