Knuth-Bendix Completion with Modern Termination Checking, Master\u27s Thesis, August 2006

Knuth-Bendix completion is a technique for equational automated theorem proving based on term rewriting. This classic procedure is parametrized by an equational theory and a (well-founded) reduction order used at runtime to ensure termination of intermediate rewriting systems. Any reduction order can be used in principle, but modern completion tools typically implement only a few classes of such orders (e.g., recursive path orders and polynomial orders). Consequently, the theories for which completion can possibly succeed are limited to those compatible with an instance of an implemented class of orders. Finding and specifying a compatible order, even among a small number of classes, is challenging in practice and crucial to the success of the method. In this thesis, a new variant on the Knuth-Bendix completion procedure is developed in which no order is provided by the user. Modern termination-checking methods are instead used to verify termination of rewriting systems. We prove the new method correct and also present an implementation called Slothrop which obtains solutions for theories that do not admit typical orders and that have not previously been solved by a fully automatic tool

Adventure Book Club

Afterschool club that reads The Boxcar Children and integrates hands-on activities to help students connect to the story, think critically, and build interdisciplinary skills

Freedom Bound

Jean concentrated on the irregular wooden railroad planks. Sometimes she could take in two in a long stride, sometimes three. It made her mind whirl after a while to watch those planks fly under her feet..

A Morphometric Examination of Cranial Vault Modification in the Middle Cumberland Region of Central Tennessee

Cranial vault modification (CVM) is a physical manifestation of intersections between culture and biology. Cultural practices that apply pressure to the head during infancy result in significant reshaping of the skull and can be either intentional or unintentional. Occipital flattening is present among many Mississippian skeletal samples from the Middle Cumberland Region (MCR) of central Tennessee and is thought to be an unintentional result of childcare practices. Traditional methods for CVM classification have concentrated on visual assessment of location and means of flattening; however, this method is subjective. This thesis seeks to evaluate visual assessment of CVM through a morphometric analysis of cranial landmarks using 3D scanning technology. The hypothesis tested is that shape differences among MCR crania correspond to visual assessment of CVM presence. Additionally, morphological variation in cranial shape is examined for sex differences that may correspond to differential cultural practices performed on males and females. Finally, differences in cranial shape variation by site are tested to determine if CVM practices differed within the MCR. This thesis examines CVM within the Arnold (n=23), Bowling Farm (n=14), and Averbuch (n=47) Mississippian skeletal samples from the MCR. Landmark coordinate data is extracted generated from high-resolution 3D models of MCR crania. A principal components analysis is performed to examine the magnitude and directionality of changes in landmark distributions among individuals. Additionally, discriminant function analysis (DFA) and canonical variate analysis (CVA) is employed in order to evaluate whether variation in cranial landmark locations corresponds with modified and unmodified categories determined by visual assessment, sex, or site membership. Results indicate that morphological variation exhibited by MCR crania largely correspond to categories determined by visual assessment of CVM. Additionally, there is no morphological distinction by sex among modified crania, indicating that CVM practices were not performed differently between males and females in the MCR. Finally, differences in shape variation among MCR sites are demonstrated and archaeological explanations for those differences are explored. The results of this thesis contribute to a larger body of anthropological literature concerned with Mississippian occupation of the MCR, for which no ethnographic evidence exists

A novel ex vivo model of equine corneal wound healing

Corneal disease is a significant cause of decreased vision or blindness in the horse worldwide. Numerous topical and systemic drugs over a prolonged period of time may be used to treat an equine corneal ulcer. Despite the high prevalence of corneal disease and ulceration in the horse, and the complexity of corneal wound healing, research is limited and more heavily devoted to in vivo studies whose limitations include small sample sizes and ethical considerations. Bench top laboratory in vitro studies are limited in number and overlook the complexity of corneal wound healing by assessing each corneal layer separately from its neighbor. The objective of this study was to develop a novel ex vivo model of equine corneal wound healing that maintained structural integrity, and is physiologically relevant, mimicking in vivo events. In this randomized and controlled study, fourteen equine corneas were harvested within two hours of humane euthanasia for reasons unrelated to this study. All donors were screened and corneas were included if they were free of ocular and systemic disease. Corneas were immediately processed and corneoscleral rims excised 2 mm posterior to the limbus. Corneas were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: wounded (n=8) or unwounded (n=6) controls. Each pair of eyes was divided such that corneas from the same horse were assigned to a different group. In the event that only one of the two eyes was included, the eye was assigned to the wounded group. In the ‘wounded’ group, the axial cornea was wounded for 60 seconds with a 6 mm disk of filter paper soaked in 1N sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Epithelial ulceration was confirmed employing fluorescein stain. Subsequently, all corneas were cultured using an air-liquid interface model in complete media. The corneal cups were placed on a rocker set at a 6 degree incline and incubated at 37 ÃÂðC with 5% CO2 humidity. The media bathed the cornea 8 times per minute to simulate normal horse blinking. Evaluation of corneal healing was performed daily and included fluorescein staining and fluorescein retention (i.e. ulcer measurements). Corneas from both groups were randomly assigned to undergo further processing via histopathology at designated time points of 24 hours (T24; n=5), T48 (n=5), and T72 (n=4) post wounding, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Structural integrity and pathologic changes to the corneal epithelium, stroma, Descemet’s membrane and endothelium were assessed. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression was then evaluated by means of RNAscope in situ hybridization. All wounded corneas healed within 72 hours. Histologically, normal corneal architecture was observed including intact epithelium, minimal stromal edema, and presence of endothelium. Increased IL-6 expression was noted in wounded corneas compared to unwounded controls and was predominantly in the metabolically active basal epithelial cell layer. As the corneal wound healing progressed, IL-6 expression decreased. The equine air-liquid interface, ex vivo, corneal wound healing model is an effective and physiologically relevant model. This model can be utilized to reduce or eliminate the use of live horses for corneal wound healing studies, while providing an effective platform for corneal wound healing research in this species

An evaluation of the cycle-graded Evangelical United Brethren Sunday school literature for the junior department

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/2131/thumbnail.jp

Library abstraction for C/C++ concurrency

When constructing complex concurrent systems, abstraction is vital: programmers should be able to reason about concurrent libraries in terms of abstract specifications that hide the implementation details. Relaxed memory models present substantial challenges in this respect, as libraries need not provide sequentially consistent abstractions: to avoid unnecessary synchronisation, they may allow clients to observe relaxed memory effects, and library specifications must capture these. In this paper, we propose a criterion for sound library abstraction in the new C11 and C++11 concurrency model, generalising the standard sequentially consistent notion of linearizability. We prove that our criterion soundly captures all client-library interactions, both through call and return values, and through the subtle synchronisation effects arising from the memory model. To illustrate our approach, we verify implementations against specifications for the lock-free Treiber stack and a producer-consumer queue. Ours is the first approach to compositional reasoning for concurrent C11/C++11 programs. 1

Adventure Book Club: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

An afterschool book club, through these lesson plans, is exploring Roald Dahl\u27s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The integration of hands-on activities serves to help students connect to the story, think critically, and build interdisciplinary skills