Data re-engineering using formal transformations

This thesis presents and analyses a solution to the problem of formally re- engineering program data structures, allowing new representations of a program to be developed. The work is based around Ward's theory of program transformations which uses a Wide Spectrum Language, WSL, whose semantics were specially developed for use in proof of program transformations. The re-engineered code exhibits equivalent functionality to the original but differs in the degree of data abstraction and representation. Previous transformational re-engineering work has concentrated upon control flow restructuring, which has highlighted a lack of support for data restructuring in the maintainer's tool-set. Problems have been encountered during program transformation due to the lack of support for data re-engineering. A lack of strict data semantics and manipulation capabilities has left the maintainer unable to produce optimally re-engineered solutions. It has also hindered the migration of programs into other languages because it has not been possible to convert data structures into an appropriate form in the target language. The main contribution of the thesis is the Data Re-Engineering and Abstraction Mechanism (DREAM) which allows theories about type equivalence to be represented and used in a re-engineering environment. DREAM is based around the technique of "ghosting", a way of introducing different representations of data, which provides the theoretical underpinning of the changes applied to the program. A second major contribution is the introduction of data typing into the WSL language. This allows DREAM to be integrated into the existing transformation theories within WSL. These theoretical extensions of the original work have been shown to be practically viable by implementation within a prototype transformation tool, the Maintainer's Assistant. The extended tool has been used to re-engineer heavily modified, commercial legacy code. The results of this have shown that useful re-engineering work can be performed and that DREAM integrates well with existing control flow transformations

Lordship and patronage: John Darcy and the Dublin administration 1324-47

John Darcy rose from being a landless member of a cadet branch of a minor Lincolnshire family to serve as steward and chamberlain in the king's household. Justiciar of Ireland for twelve years m total, he developed close links with both Edward II and Edward III, surviving changes of regime in England in 1326 and in 1330, and served as one of the king's captains in Scotland and France. He acquired property in the north Midlands, and in Ireland, where he married into the comital house of de Burgh. This thesis examines his career as justiciar, steward, and chamberlain, exploring how it illustrates the search for, and provision of, 'good lordship'. It assesses whether his friends and associates benefited from his influential position. The personnel of the Dublin government - judicial courts, chancery, exchequer, customs, escheatry, and royal constables - are investigated to discover the impact of Darcy upon appointments. This is set in the context of the influence of other chief governors and that of other evident patterns of patronage within the administration. To do this effectively, the diesis is divided into two parts. The first part surveys Darcy’s career, while in the second half, the Dublin administration is examined by department, commencing with the offices over which Darcy exercised most influence, before following a more conventional hierarchical approach. The thesis concludes by assessing the implications of the influence of Darcy and others upon the relationship of the lordship of Ireland and the kingdom of England

The Effects of Capacity on Sales Under Alternative Vertical Contracts

Retailer capacity decisions can impact sales for products by affecting, for example, availability and visibility. Using data from the U.S. video rental industry, we report estimates of the effect of capacity on sales. New monitoring technologies facilitated new supply contracts in this industry, which lowered the upfront costs of capacity and required minimum capacity purchases, strongly impacting stocking decisions. Under the traditional supply contract, capacity costs $44 per tape (avg) and the marginal tape produces 10.4 to 18.0 additional rentals. Under the new contract, capacity costs$7 per tape (avg) and the marginal tape produces 0 to 4.9 additional rentals.

Hatched: The capacity for sustainable development

Hatched: The capacity for sustainable development is edited by Landcare Research scientists Bob Frame, Richard Gordon and Claire Mortimer and is a collection of research findings, stories and tools exploring five key areas of capacity required for New Zealand’s long-term success. It covers innovative research undertaken with businesses, across policy sectors, communities and individuals and was funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology

Hydrodynamic propulsion of human sperm

The detailed fluid mechanics of sperm propulsion are fundamental to our understanding of reproduction. In this paper, we aim to model a human sperm swimming in a microscope slide chamber. We model the sperm itself by a distribution of regularized stokeslets over an ellipsoidal sperm head and along an infinitesimally thin flagellum. The slide chamber walls are modelled as parallel plates, also discretized by a distribution of regularized stokeslets. The sperm flagellar motion, used in our model, is obtained by digital microscopy of human sperm swimming in slide chambers. We compare the results of our simulation with previous numerical studies of flagellar propulsion, and compare our computations of sperm kinematics with those of the actual sperm measured by digital microscopy. We find that there is an excellent quantitative match of transverse and angular velocities between our simulations and experimental measurements of sperm. We also find a good qualitative match of longitudinal velocities and computed tracks with those measured in our experiment. Our computations of average sperm power consumption fall within the range obtained by other authors. We use the hydrodynamic model, and a prototype flagellar motion derived from experiment, as a predictive tool, and investigate how sperm kinematics are affected by changes to head morphology, as human sperm have large variability in head size and shape. Results are shown which indicate the increase in predicted straight-line velocity of the sperm as the head width is reduced and the increase in lateral movement as the head length is reduced. Predicted power consumption, however, shows a minimum close to the normal head aspect ratio

Seven exercises planned to stimulate the flow of ideas in creative composition

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit