An assertion language for constraint logic programs

In an advanced program development environment, such as that discussed in the introduction of this book, several tools may coexist which handle both the program and information on the program in different ways. Also, these tools may interact among themselves and with the user. Thus, the different tools and the user need some way to communicate. It is our design principie that such communication be performed in terms of assertions. Assertions are syntactic objects which allow expressing properties of programs. Several assertion languages have been used in the past in different contexts, mainly related to program debugging. In this chapter we propose a general language of assertions which is used in different tools for validation and debugging of constraint logic programs in the context of the DiSCiPl project. The assertion language proposed is parametric w.r.t. the particular constraint domain and properties of interest being used in each different tool. The language proposed is quite general in that it poses few restrictions on the kind of properties which may be expressed. We believe the assertion language we propose is of practical relevance and appropriate for the different uses required in the tools considered.

Advanced Topics in Resource Analysis: Certification, Incrementality, Concurrency and Array-Sensitivity

El Análisis de Consumo de Recursos o Análisis de Coste trata de aproximar el coste de ejecutar un programa como una función dependiente de sus datos de entrada. A pesar de que existen trabajos previos a esta tesis doctoral que desarrollan potentes marcos para el análisis de coste de programas orientados a objetos, algunos aspectos avanzados, como la eficiencia, la precisión y la fiabilidad de los resultados, todavía deben ser estudiados en profundidad. Esta tesis aborda estos aspectos desde cuatro perspectivas diferentes: (1) Las estructuras de datos compartidas en la memoria del programa son una pesadilla para el análisis estático de programas. Trabajos recientes proponen una serie de condiciones de localidad para poder mantener de forma consistente información sobre los atributos de los objetos almacenados en memoria compartida, reemplazando éstos por variables locales no almacenadas en la memoria compartida. En esta tesis presentamos dos extensiones a estos trabajos: la primera es considerar, no sólo los accesos a los atributos, sino también los accesos a los elementos almacenados en arrays; la segunda se centra en los casos en los que las condiciones de localidad no se cumplen de forma incondicional, para lo cual, proponemos una técnica para encontrar las precondiciones necesarias para garantizar la consistencia de la información acerca de los datos almacenados en memoria. (2) El objetivo del análisis incremental es, dado un programa, los resultados de su análisis y una serie de cambios sobre el programa, obtener los nuevos resultados del análisis de la forma más eficiente posible, evitando reanalizar aquellos fragmentos de código que no se hayan visto afectados por los cambios. Los analizadores actuales todavía leen y analizan el programa completo de forma no incremental. Esta tesis presenta un análisis de coste incremental, que, dado un cambio en el programa, reconstruye la información sobre el coste del programa de todos los métodos afectados por el cambio de forma incremental. Para esto, proponemos (i) un algoritmo multi-dominio y de punto fijo que puede ser utilizado en todos los análisis globales necesarios para inferir el coste, y (ii) una novedosa forma de almacenar las expresiones de coste que nos permite reconstruir de forma incremental únicamente las funciones de coste de aquellos componentes afectados por el cambio. (3) Las garantías de coste obtenidas de forma automática por herramientas de análisis estático no son consideradas totalmente fiables salvo que la implementación de la herramienta o los resultados obtenidos sean verificados formalmente. Llevar a cabo el análisis de estas herramientas es una tarea titánica, ya que se trata de herramientas de gran tamaño y complejidad. En esta tesis nos centramos en el desarrollo de un marco formal para la verificación de las garantías de coste obtenidas por los analizadores en lugar de analizar las herramientas. Hemos implementado esta idea mediante la herramienta COSTA, un analizador de coste para programas Java y KeY, una herramienta de verificación de programas Java. De esta forma, COSTA genera las garantías de coste, mientras que KeY prueba la validez formal de los resultados obtenidos, generando de esta forma garantías de coste verificadas. (4) Hoy en día la concurrencia y los programas distribuidos son clave en el desarrollo de software. Los objetos concurrentes son un modelo de concurrencia asentado para el desarrollo de sistemas concurrentes. En este modelo, los objetos son las unidades de concurrencia y se comunican entre ellos mediante llamadas asíncronas a sus métodos. La distribución de las tareas sugiere que el análisis de coste debe inferir el coste de los diferentes componentes distribuidos por separado. En esta tesis proponemos un análisis de coste sensible a objetos que, utilizando los resultados obtenidos mediante un análisis de apunta-a, mantiene el coste de los diferentes componentes de forma independiente. Abstract Resource Analysis (a.k.a. Cost Analysis) tries to approximate the cost of executing programs as functions on their input data sizes and without actually having to execute the programs. While a powerful resource analysis framework on object-oriented programs existed before this thesis, advanced aspects to improve the efficiency, the accuracy and the reliability of the results of the analysis still need to be further investigated. This thesis tackles this need from the following four different perspectives. (1) Shared mutable data structures are the bane of formal reasoning and static analysis. Analyses which keep track of heap-allocated data are referred to as heap-sensitive. Recent work proposes locality conditions for soundly tracking field accesses by means of ghost non-heap allocated variables. In this thesis we present two extensions to this approach: the first extension is to consider arrays accesses (in addition to object fields), while the second extension focuses on handling cases for which the locality conditions cannot be proven unconditionally by finding aliasing preconditions under which tracking such heap locations is feasible. (2) The aim of incremental analysis is, given a program, its analysis results and a series of changes to the program, to obtain the new analysis results as efficiently as possible and, ideally, without having to (re-)analyze fragments of code that are not affected by the changes. During software development, programs are permanently modified but most analyzers still read and analyze the entire program at once in a non-incremental way. This thesis presents an incremental resource usage analysis which, after a change in the program is made, is able to reconstruct the upper-bounds of all affected methods in an incremental way. To this purpose, we propose (i) a multi-domain incremental fixed-point algorithm which can be used by all global analyses required to infer the cost, and (ii) a novel form of cost summaries that allows us to incrementally reconstruct only those components of cost functions affected by the change. (3) Resource guarantees that are automatically inferred by static analysis tools are generally not considered completely trustworthy, unless the tool implementation or the results are formally verified. Performing full-blown verification of such tools is a daunting task, since they are large and complex. In this thesis we focus on the development of a formal framework for the verification of the resource guarantees obtained by the analyzers, instead of verifying the tools. We have implemented this idea using COSTA, a state-of-the-art cost analyzer for Java programs and KeY, a state-of-the-art verification tool for Java source code. COSTA is able to derive upper-bounds of Java programs while KeY proves the validity of these bounds and provides a certificate. The main contribution of our work is to show that the proposed tools cooperation can be used for automatically producing verified resource guarantees. (4) Distribution and concurrency are today mainstream. Concurrent objects form a well established model for distributed concurrent systems. In this model, objects are the concurrency units that communicate via asynchronous method calls. Distribution suggests that analysis must infer the cost of the diverse distributed components separately. In this thesis we propose a novel object-sensitive cost analysis which, by using the results gathered by a points-to analysis, can keep the cost of the diverse distributed components separate.

News in engineering education in Spain effective from 2010 in presence of external changes and mixed crisis, looking mostly to agro and civil engineers.

The engineering careers models were diverse in Europe, and are adopting now in Spain the Bolonia process for European Universities. Separated from older Universities, that are in part technically active, Civil Engineering (Caminos, Canales y Puertos) started at end of 18th century in Spain adopting the French models of Upper Schools for state civil servants with exam at entry. After 1800 intense wars, to conserve forest regions Ingenieros de Montes appeared as Upper School, and in 1855 also the Ingenieros Agrónomos to push up related techniques and practices. Other Engineers appeared as Upper Schools but more towards private factories. These ES got all adapted Lower Schools of Ingeniero Tecnico. Recently both grew much in number and evolved, linked also to recognized Professions. Spanish society, into European Community, evolved across year 2000, in part highly well, but with severe discordances, that caused severe youth unemployment with 2008-2011 crisis. With Bolonia process high formal changes step in from 2010-11, accepted with intense adaptation. The Lower Schools are changing towards the Upper Schools, and both that have shifted since 2010-11 various 4-years careers (Grado), some included into the precedent Professions, and diverse Masters. Acceptation of them to get students has started relatively well, and will evolve, and acceptation of new grades for employment in Spain, Europe or outside will be essential. Each Grado has now quite rigid curricula and programs, MOODLE was introduced to connect pupils, some specific uses of Personal Computers are taught in each subject. Escuela de Agronomos centre, reorganized with its old name in its precedent buildings at entrance of Campus Moncloa, offers Grados of Agronomic Engineering and Science for various public and private activities for agriculture, Alimentary Engineering for alimentary activities and control, Agro-Environmental Engineering more related to environment activities, and in part Biotechnology also in laboratories in Campus Monte-Gancedo for Biotechnology of Plants and Computational Biotechnology. Curricula include Basics, Engineering, Practices, Visits, English, ?project of end of career?, Stays. Some masters will conduce to specific professional diploma, list includes now Agro-Engineering, Agro-Forestal Biotechnology, Agro and Natural Resources Economy, Complex Physical Systems, Gardening and Landscaping, Rural Genie, Phytogenetic Resources, Plant Genetic Resources, Environmental Technology for Sustainable Agriculture, Technology for Human Development and Cooperation.

Traditional education vs modern education. What is the impact of teaching techniques' evolution on students learning process?

The main objective of this article is to focus on the analysis of teaching techniques, ranging from the use of the blackboard and chalk in old traditional classes, using slides and overhead projectors in the eighties and use of presentation software in the nineties, to the video, electronic board and network resources nowadays. Furthermore, all the aforementioned, is viewed under the different mentalities in which the teacher conditions the student using the new teaching technique, improving soft skills but maybe leading either to encouragement or disinterest, and including the lack of educational knowledge consolidation at scientific, technology and specific levels. In the same way, we study the process of adaptation required for teachers, the differences in the processes of information transfer and education towards the student, and even the existence of teachers who are not any longer appealed by their work due which has become much simpler due to new technologies and the greater ease in the development of classes due to the criteria described on the new Grade Programs adopted by the European Higher Education Area. Moreover, it is also intended to understand the evolution of students’ profiles, from the eighties to present time, in order to understand certain attitudes, behaviours, accomplishments and acknowledgements acquired over the semesters within the degree Programs. As an Educational Innovation Group, another key question also arises. What will be the learning techniques in the future?. How these evolving matters will affect both positively and negatively on the mentality, attitude, behaviour, learning, achievement of goals and satisfaction levels of all elements involved in universities’ education? Clearly, this evolution from chalk to the electronic board, the three-dimensional view of our works and their sequence, greatly facilitates the understanding and adaptation later on to the business world, but does not answer to the unknowns regarding the knowledge and the full development of achievement’s indicators in basic skills of a degree. This is the underlying question which steers the roots of the presented research.

Systems in Engineering Education: account of an experience

Systems Engineering (SE in the following) has not received much attention as a subject matter in engineering curricula. There are several dozens of universities around the world offering programs (most of them at the graduate level) on systems science and engineering. However, SE is, per se, rarely found among the courses offered by engineering schools. This observation does not strictly mean that systems concepts be left apart. For example, it is usual to find specialized courses for systems of some particular classes (e.g., courses on software systems engineering for computing curricula) or for particular phases of the system life cycle (e.g., courses on systems analysis). Even so, these kinds of courses tend to over-emphasize the importance of specific methodologies and, in consequence, to deviate the attention from the realm of systernness

Impact of new technologies and social networks on a secondary education theatre project

This paper describes the potential impact of social media and new technologies in secondary education. The case of study has been designed for the drama and theatre subject. A wide set of tools like social networks, blogs, internet, multimedia content, local press and other promotional tools are promoted to increase students’ motivation. The experiment was developed at the highschool IES Al-Satt located in Algete in the Comunidad de Madrid. The students included in the theatre group present a low academic level, 80% of them had previously repeated at least one grade, half of them come from programs for students with learning difficulties and were at risk of social exclusion. This action is supported by higher and secondary education professors and teachers who look forward to implanting networked media technologies as new tools to improve the academic results and the degree of involvement of students. The results of the experiment have been excellent, based on satisfactory opinions obtained from a survey answered by students at the end of the course, and also revealed by the analytics taken from different social networks. This project is a pioneer in the introduction and usage of new technologies in secondary high-schools in Spain.

Anabolic drugs consumption of high school students participating in school championships of physical education

This paper aims to analyse the use of anabolic drugs among Greek students participating in school championships of physical education (PE). In order to do it, a survey was conducted during the 2008 to 2009 academic year in suburban, urban and metropolitan areas in Greece. The sample was 2,535 high school students from the 10 to 12th grade, participating in the school physical education championships. The results showed that 9.6% of boys and 3.7% of girls reported that they had used anabolic drugs sometime in the past whereas 11.2% boys and 4.8% girls reported that they would intend to use them in the future. This confirms that anabolic steroids are an important problem among adolescents, and educational programs should increase their knowledge about these drugs. Information should come not only from the state, but also from coaches, teachers, trainers and parents.

A comparative analysis of ABE Bachelor of Science programs in European and US Universities.

European Universities are involved in series of great changes regarding teaching and education organization during the last few years. The origin of these changes is the creation of the so-called European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which main target is to harmonize the different University studies throughout Europe. As a consequence, most of the programs of studies in all degrees are suffering changes in order to converge to common structures. Taking advantage of the actual process, some European universities are moving from traditional Agricultural Engineering programs to a more wide discipline named recently as Biosystems Engineering, which is a science- based engineering discipline that integrates engineering science and design with applied biological, environmental and agricultural sciences, broadening in this way the area of application of Engineering sciences not strictly to agricultural sciences, but to the biologic al sciences in general, including the agricultural sciences. This paper presents a comparative study of different Bachelor of Science degrees offered by American and European Universities in the field of Agricultural/Biosystems Engineering. To carry out the analysis 40 programs accredited by ABET in American Universities and 50 European programs. Among other questions, the total number of credits, the number of semesters, the kind of modules and the distribution of subjects in groups (Basic Sciences, Engineering Fundamentals, Agricultural/Biological Sciences, Humanities & Economic Sciences, Applied Agricultural/Biological Engineering and electives) are discussed in the paper. The information provided can be an useful starting point in future definitions of new or renewed degrees with the aim of advancing in internationalization of the programs and helping student’s mobility.

Soft Skills: A Comparative Analysis Between Online and Classroom Teaching

Currently the Spanish universities are making a great effort to effectively incorporate the development and assessment of generic skills in their training programs. Information and communications technologies (ICT) offer a wide range of possibilities but create uncertainty among teachers about the process and results. It is considered of interest to conduct a study to analyze the extent to which social skills like commitment, communication and teamwork are acquired by students and teachers. It seeks to ascertain the influence of the learning context, online or classroom training, in the development of these personal skills among the participants in the sample. For this study two universities have been chosen, Universidad a Distancia de Madrid (UDIMA) offering online training environment, and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) with classroom training modality. A total of 257 individuals, 230 students and 27 teachers have answered the survey called Evalsoft. This instrument was designed in the project with the same name by a research team from Universidad Complutense of Madrid (UCM). Some interesting conclusions can be highlighted: it is in the online context where there are higher levels of commitment and teamwork than in the classroom modality; teachers have higher social skills that students and these improve with age. Sex and the training program appear to influence these social skills.

Local relevance evaluation in the accreditation bodies for engineering masters programs

Accreditation models in the international context mainly consider the evaluation of learning outcomes and the ability of programs (or higher education institutions) to achieve the educational objectives stated in their mission. However, it is not clear if these objectives and therefore their outcomes satisfy real national and regional needs, a critical point in engineering master's programs, especially in developing countries. The aim of this paper is to study the importance of the local relevancy evaluation of these programs and to analyze the main models of quality assurance and accreditation bodies of USA, Europe and Latin America, in order to ascertain whether the relevancy is evaluated or not. After a literature review, we found that in a free-market economic context and international education, the accreditation of master's programs follows an international accreditation model, and doesńt take in account in most cases criteria and indicators for local relevancy. It concludes that it is necessary both, international accreditation to ensure the effectiveness of the program (achievement of learning outcomes) and the national accreditation through which it could ensure local relevancy of programs, for which we are giving some indicators.

Development in Rural Areas Through Capacity Building and Education for Business

This paper is based on a case study located in Avila, central Spain. Its main objectives are to implement an entrepreneurship program and design a plan of capacity building and education for business in order to promote the development of rural areas. The methodological approach of the program is based on the use of tools that permit involving the various actors of the area from the early planning stages. The university's group that is carrying out the field work has relied on these participatory tools in very different areas and contexts for over 25 years. This has allowed the development of an advanced planning model called ?Working With People? that connects expert and experience knowledge in the territories where it is applied. With this methodological approach, the diagnosis of the territory and the design of the program's strategy has been carried out. Once completed the first phase of the program and in order to ensure the sustainability and applicability of future entrepreneurial initiatives, it is necessary to support and strengthen potential entrepreneurs through training activities and capacity building. It relies on ?How to learn from people who live there? to promote investment projects and to teach them with adequate educational skills. In this context, this article aims to study the implementation strategy of these training and capacity building activities studied from an academic perspective, as well as analyzing the potential effects of these actions in promoting entrepreneurship in the territories

Republican Scientific-Medical Library, The Republic of Armenia: progress and programs*

In 1990, the Republican Scientific-Medical Library (RSML) of the Ministry of Health of Armenia in collaboration with the Fund for Armenian Relief created a vision of a national library network supported by information technology. This vision incorporated four goals: (1) to develop a national resource collection of biomedical literature accessible to all health professionals, (2) to develop a national network for access to bibliographic information, (3) to develop a systematic mechanism for sharing resources, and (4) to develop a national network of health sciences libraries. During the last decade, the RSML has achieved significant progress toward all four goals and has realized its vision of becoming a fully functional national library. The RSML now provides access to the literature of the health sciences including access to the Armenian medical literature, provides education and training to health professionals and health sciences librarians, and manages a national network of libraries of the major health care institutions in Armenia. The RSML is now able to provide rapid access to the biomedical literature and train health professionals and health sciences librarians in Armenia in information system use. This paper describes the evolution of the RSML and how it was accomplished.

Raising the bar: the importance of hospital library standards in the continuing medical education accreditation process*

The Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) reviews and accredits the continuing medical education (CME) programs offered by Connecticut's hospitals. As part of the survey process, the CSMS assesses the quality of the hospitals' libraries. In 1987, the CSMS adopted the Medical Library Association's (MLA's) “Minimum Standards for Health Sciences Libraries in Hospitals.” In 1990, professional librarians were added to the survey team and, later, to the CSMS CME Committee. Librarians participating in this effort are recruited from the membership of the Connecticut Association of Health Sciences Librarians (CAHSL). The positive results of having a qualified librarian on the survey team and the invaluable impact of adherence to the MLA standards are outlined. As a direct result of this process, hospitals throughout the state have added staffing, increased space, and added funding for resources during an era of cutbacks. Some hospital libraries have been able to maintain a healthy status quo, while others have had proposed cuts reconsidered by administrators for fear of losing valuable CME accreditation status. Creating a relationship with an accrediting agency is one method by which hospital librarians elsewhere may strengthen their efforts to ensure adequate library resources in an era of downsizing. In addition, this collaboration has provided a new and important role for librarians to play on an accreditation team.

Contemplative Education CenterStage: Training the Mindful Performer

In the late 20th century and early 21st century, contemplative education/studies courses, concentrations, and initiatives have emerged in the academy. Although there has been significant discussion of postsecondary courses and programs that have integrated contemplative views and practices in the literature, there have been few studies of contemplative curricula and pedagogy in higher education. Additionally, there have been even fewer inquiries of the influence of contemplative education on performing arts training within conservatories and college and university departments. The aim of this qualitative study was two-fold: (1) to describe, interpret, and appraise the impact of contemplative education on the curricula of an interdisciplinary conservatory level performing arts program, MFA Contemporary Performance, at Naropa University; and (2) to disclose, compare, and analyze MFA student perceptions of the influence of contemplative education on their professional and personal development. The following questions guided this study: (1) How do faculty and students characterize contemplative education within the MFA in Theater: Contemporary Performance Program? (2) How does contemplative education impact the intended and operational curricula of courses within the MFA Contemporary Performance Program? (3) How do graduate students perceive the effects of contemplative education, offered by the MFA Contemporary Performance Program, on the development of their communication abilities, presence-in-performance, sociolinguistic perspectives, and aesthetic perspectives? Based on the research methodology of educational criticism and connoisseurship, this investigation provides a vivid description and interpretation of the intended and operational curricula of three core courses within the MFA program. These curricula were examined through five dimensions: intentional, curricular, pedagogical, structural, and evaluative. In order to shape our understanding of the contemplative and performative nature of the curricula, the significant and subtle qualities of the courses were further captured by preparation, context-building, reflective, showing, and closing conventions. Since the courses were grounded in postmodern view, they were evaluated according to Doll's criteria of richness, recursion, relations, and rigor for the evaluation of postmodern curricula. MFA first- and second-year students primarily characterized contemplative education as body/mind training for performance and personal development, sitting meditation, and cultivation of mindfulness and awareness. Student perceptions of the impact of contemplative education on the development of their communication abilities, presence-in-performance, sociolinguistic perspectives, and aesthetic perspectives, throughout the course of their two-year training, are presented in a dimensional analysis. The research reveals eight different themes that intersect the three core curricula and interviews with MFA students and faculty. These thematics include inclusivity, nowness, silence, improvisation, goodness, heart, training, and space. The beginning letter of each theme combines to form the acronym, insights. The framework of insights connects and illuminates the most potent aspects of MFA Contemporary Performance values and training.

Educating a new generation of library and information science professionals: A United States perspective

This article examines the U.S model of library and information science (LIS) education in light of the changes brought about by information and communication technology. The accepted model of professional preparation in the United States has emphasized graduate education on a Master’s level from LIS programs accredited by the American Library Association (ALA). The authors trace the historical development of this approach and provide an overview of the ALA accreditation process. Furthermore, they examine the strategies of LIS programs in adjusting to the changing information environment, present the debate about the iSchool movement, and discuss the evolution of the core curriculum. In addition, the article explores the relationship between LIS education and the field of practice and presents a practitioner’s perspective on educating library professionals. The authors conclude that the model of advanced professional preparation for librarianship is still relevant in the digital environment, but it requires greater flexibility and close cooperation with the field of practice.