236 research outputs found
The balanced scorecard in a pharmaceutical company: a case study
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach to performance measurement is gaining, over the last decades, an increased popularity due its strategic use of key non-financial measures along with the more traditional financial metrics. This paper outlines the process of development, implementation, usage and later on abandon, of the BSC in a Portuguese subsidiary of a leading international pharmaceutical company. In order to support our findings we review in the existing literature on the BSC concept and highline the characteristics of this concept analyzing the reasons of its popularity. In addition this paper postulates the likely impact of such a performance measurement system on the organizational behaviour and provides a framework on how the BSC implementation can effectively help an organization in clarifying its mission and strategy into new goals. Finally, this paper outlines the organizational challenges and potential pitfalls associated to the BSC implementation
On unification of QBF resolution-based calculi
Several calculi for quantified Boolean formulas (QBFs) exist, but relations between them are not yet fully understood. This paper defines a novel calculus, which is resolution-based and enables unification of the principal existing resolution-based QBF calculi, namely Q-resolution, long-distance Q-resolution and the expansion-based calculus Exp+Res. All these calculi play an important role in QBF solving. This paper shows simulation results for the new calculus and some of its variants. Further, we demonstrate how to obtain winning strategies for the universal player from proofs in the calculus. We believe that this new proof system provides an underpinning necessary for formal analysis of modern QBF solvers. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Evaluating QBF Solvers: Quantifier Alternations Matter
We present an experimental study of the effects of quantifier alternations on
the evaluation of quantified Boolean formula (QBF) solvers. The number of
quantifier alternations in a QBF in prenex conjunctive normal form (PCNF) is
directly related to the theoretical hardness of the respective QBF
satisfiability problem in the polynomial hierarchy. We show empirically that
the performance of solvers based on different solving paradigms substantially
varies depending on the numbers of alternations in PCNFs. In related
theoretical work, quantifier alternations have become the focus of
understanding the strengths and weaknesses of various QBF proof systems
implemented in solvers. Our results motivate the development of methods to
evaluate orthogonal solving paradigms by taking quantifier alternations into
account. This is necessary to showcase the broad range of existing QBF solving
paradigms for practical QBF applications. Moreover, we highlight the potential
of combining different approaches and QBF proof systems in solvers.Comment: preprint of a paper to be published at CP 2018, LNCS, Springer,
including appendi
Understanding and Extending Incremental Determinization for 2QBF
Incremental determinization is a recently proposed algorithm for solving
quantified Boolean formulas with one quantifier alternation. In this paper, we
formalize incremental determinization as a set of inference rules to help
understand the design space of similar algorithms. We then present additional
inference rules that extend incremental determinization in two ways. The first
extension integrates the popular CEGAR principle and the second extension
allows us to analyze different cases in isolation. The experimental evaluation
demonstrates that the extensions significantly improve the performance
On QBF Proofs and Preprocessing
QBFs (quantified boolean formulas), which are a superset of propositional
formulas, provide a canonical representation for PSPACE problems. To overcome
the inherent complexity of QBF, significant effort has been invested in
developing QBF solvers as well as the underlying proof systems. At the same
time, formula preprocessing is crucial for the application of QBF solvers. This
paper focuses on a missing link in currently-available technology: How to
obtain a certificate (e.g. proof) for a formula that had been preprocessed
before it was given to a solver? The paper targets a suite of commonly-used
preprocessing techniques and shows how to reconstruct certificates for them. On
the negative side, the paper discusses certain limitations of the
currently-used proof systems in the light of preprocessing. The presented
techniques were implemented and evaluated in the state-of-the-art QBF
preprocessor bloqqer.Comment: LPAR 201
DepQBF 6.0: A Search-Based QBF Solver Beyond Traditional QCDCL
We present the latest major release version 6.0 of the quantified Boolean
formula (QBF) solver DepQBF, which is based on QCDCL. QCDCL is an extension of
the conflict-driven clause learning (CDCL) paradigm implemented in state of the
art propositional satisfiability (SAT) solvers. The Q-resolution calculus
(QRES) is a QBF proof system which underlies QCDCL. QCDCL solvers can produce
QRES proofs of QBFs in prenex conjunctive normal form (PCNF) as a byproduct of
the solving process. In contrast to traditional QCDCL based on QRES, DepQBF 6.0
implements a variant of QCDCL which is based on a generalization of QRES. This
generalization is due to a set of additional axioms and leaves the original
Q-resolution rules unchanged. The generalization of QRES enables QCDCL to
potentially produce exponentially shorter proofs than the traditional variant.
We present an overview of the features implemented in DepQBF and report on
experimental results which demonstrate the effectiveness of generalized QRES in
QCDCL.Comment: 12 pages + appendix; to appear in the proceedings of CADE-26, LNCS,
Springer, 201
How to Complete an Interactive Configuration Process?
When configuring customizable software, it is useful to provide interactive
tool-support that ensures that the configuration does not breach given
constraints.
But, when is a configuration complete and how can the tool help the user to
complete it?
We formalize this problem and relate it to concepts from non-monotonic
reasoning well researched in Artificial Intelligence. The results are
interesting for both practitioners and theoreticians. Practitioners will find a
technique facilitating an interactive configuration process and experiments
supporting feasibility of the approach. Theoreticians will find links between
well-known formal concepts and a concrete practical application.Comment: to appear in SOFSEM 201
Learning Instantiation in First-Order Logic
Contains fulltext :
286055.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)AITP 202
The Effect of Calcining Temperature on Photocatalytic Activity of Porous ZnO Architecture
Zinc oxide (ZnO) nano crystals assembled porous architecture was prepared by thermal decomposition of zinc oxalate precursor at various temperatures ranging from 400-900°C. The effect of calcining temperature on structure and morphology was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetry, and BET adsorption analysis. The porous nano crystalline ZnO morphology was developed due to the release of volatile precursor products, while the overall shape of ZnO micro crystals was retained as a legacy of the precursor. The average crystallite size increased with increasing temperature of calcination from approximately 21 nm to 79 nm, while the specific surface area decreased from 30 to 1.7 m2g-1. The photo catalytic performance of prepared ZnO powders was evaluated by degradation of methyl violet 2B, a model compound. The significantly highest photo catalytic activity was achieved with powder calcined at 500°C. This may be attributed to the sufficiently well-developed crystalline arrangement, while the specific surface area is still high enough
The Effect of Calcining Temperature on Photocatalytic Activity of Porous ZnO Architecture
Zinc oxide (ZnO) nano crystals assembled porous architecture was prepared by thermal decomposition of zinc oxalate precursor at various temperatures ranging from 400-900°C. The effect of calcining temperature on structure and morphology was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetry, and BET adsorption analysis. The porous nano crystalline ZnO morphology was developed due to the release of volatile precursor products, while the overall shape of ZnO micro crystals was retained as a legacy of the precursor. The average crystallite size increased with increasing temperature of calcination from approximately 21 nm to 79 nm, while the specific surface area decreased from 30 to 1.7 m2g-1. The photo catalytic performance of prepared ZnO powders was evaluated by degradation of methyl violet 2B, a model compound. The significantly highest photo catalytic activity was achieved with powder calcined at 500°C. This may be attributed to the sufficiently well-developed crystalline arrangement, while the specific surface area is still high enough
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