Ordered Ports – a Language Concept for High-level Distributed Programming

A new language concept for high-level distributed programming is proposed. Programs are organised as a collection of concurrently executing processes. Some of these processes, referred to as liaison processes, have a monitor-like structure and contain ports which may be invoked by other processes for the purposes of synchronisation and communication. Synchronisation is achieved by conditional activation of ports and also through port control constructs which may directly specify the execution ordering of ports. These constructs implement a path-expression-like mechanism for synchronisation and are also equipped with options to provide conditional, non-deterministic and priority ordering of ports. The usefulness and expressive power of the proposed concepts are illustrated through solutions of several representative programming problems. Some implementation issues are also considered.

Patterns in permuted binary matrices

Reorganizing a dataset so that its hidden structure can be observed is useful in any data analysis task. For example, detecting a regularity in a dataset helps us to interpret the data, compress the data, and explain the processes behind the data. We study datasets that come in the form of binary matrices (tables with 0s and 1s). Our goal is to develop automatic methods that bring out certain patterns by permuting the rows and columns. We concentrate on the following patterns in binary matrices: consecutive-ones (C1P), simultaneous consecutive-ones (SC1P), nestedness, k-nestedness, and bandedness. These patterns reflect specific types of interplay and variation between the rows and columns, such as continuity and hierarchies. Furthermore, their combinatorial properties are interlinked, which helps us to develop the theory of binary matrices and efficient algorithms. Indeed, we can detect all these patterns in a binary matrix efficiently, that is, in polynomial time in the size of the matrix. Since real-world datasets often contain noise and errors, we rarely witness perfect patterns. Therefore we also need to assess how far an input matrix is from a pattern: we count the number of flips (from 0s to 1s or vice versa) needed to bring out the perfect pattern in the matrix. Unfortunately, for most patterns it is an NP-complete problem to find the minimum distance to a matrix that has the perfect pattern, which means that the existence of a polynomial-time algorithm is unlikely. To find patterns in datasets with noise, we need methods that are noise-tolerant and work in practical time with large datasets. The theory of binary matrices gives rise to robust heuristics that have good performance with synthetic data and discover easily interpretable structures in real-world datasets: dialectical variation in the spoken Finnish language, division of European locations by the hierarchies found in mammal occurrences, and co-occuring groups in network data. In addition to determining the distance from a dataset to a pattern, we need to determine whether the pattern is significant or a mere occurrence of a random chance. To this end, we use significance testing: we deem a dataset significant if it appears exceptional when compared to datasets generated from a certain null hypothesis. After detecting a significant pattern in a dataset, it is up to domain experts to interpret the results in the terms of the application.

Language universals and linguistic complexity : Three case studies in core argument marking

In this dissertation I study language complexity from a typological perspective. Since the structuralist era, it has been assumed that local complexity differences in languages are balanced out in cross-linguistic comparisons and that complexity is not affected by the geopolitical or sociocultural aspects of the speech community. However, these assumptions have seldom been studied systematically from a typological point of view. My objective is to define complexity so that it is possible to compare it across languages and to approach its variation with the methods of quantitative typology. My main empirical research questions are: i) does language complexity vary in any systematic way in local domains, and ii) can language complexity be affected by the geographical or social environment? These questions are studied in three articles, whose findings are summarized in the introduction to the dissertation. In order to enable cross-language comparison, I measure complexity as the description length of the regularities in an entity; I separate it from difficulty, focus on local instead of global complexity, and break it up into different types. This approach helps avoid the problems that plagued earlier metrics of language complexity. My approach to grammar is functional-typological in nature, and the theoretical framework is basic linguistic theory. I delimit the empirical research functionally to the marking of core arguments (the basic participants in the sentence). I assess the distributions of complexity in this domain with multifactorial statistical methods and use different sampling strategies, implementing, for instance, the Greenbergian view of universals as diachronic laws of type preference. My data come from large and balanced samples (up to approximately 850 languages), drawn mainly from reference grammars. The results suggest that various significant trends occur in the marking of core arguments in regard to complexity and that complexity in this domain correlates with population size. These results provide evidence that linguistic patterns interact among themselves in terms of complexity, that language structure adapts to the social environment, and that there may be cognitive mechanisms that limit complexity locally. My approach to complexity and language universals can therefore be successfully applied to empirical data and may serve as a model for further research in these areas.

Use of adult male bonnet monkeys (Macaca radiata) for testing the biological activity of gonadotropin releasing hormone and its analogues

The effect of injecting agonistic and antagonistic analogues of gonadotropin releasing hormone analogues on serum testosterone levels was checked in adult and immature male bonnet monkeys. Of the agonistic analogues Buserelin, Ovurelin and D-Phe6 Gln8 GnRH were found to be most potent in increasing serum testosterone levels in the adult male bonnet monkeys. While 27-month-old monkeys responded well to des Gly10 GnRH, only marginal response was observed in the case of 15-month-old monkeys. Studies carried out with Ovurelin indicated that it was not effective in causing desensitization in adult monkeys. The antagonistic analogue was effective in blocking nocturnal surge of serum testosterone. Based on these studies it is suggested the adult male bonnet monkeys can be effectively used for testing the activity of GnRH analogues.

Comparing type counts

This work is a case study of applying nonparametric statistical methods to corpus data. We show how to use ideas from permutation testing to answer linguistic questions related to morphological productivity and type richness. In particular, we study the use of the suffixes -ity and -ness in the 17th-century part of the Corpus of Early English Correspondence within the framework of historical sociolinguistics. Our hypothesis is that the productivity of -ity, as measured by type counts, is significantly low in letters written by women. To test such hypotheses, and to facilitate exploratory data analysis, we take the approach of computing accumulation curves for types and hapax legomena. We have developed an open source computer program which uses Monte Carlo sampling to compute the upper and lower bounds of these curves for one or more levels of statistical significance. By comparing the type accumulation from women’s letters with the bounds, we are able to confirm our hypothesis.

Testing the efficacy of a chilli-tobacco rope fence as a deterrent against crop-raiding elephants

Chilli-based repellents have shown promise as deterrents against crop-raiding elephants in Africa. We experimented with ropes coated with chilli-based repellent as a cheap alternative to existing elephant cropraid deterrent methods in India. Three locations (Buxa Tiger Reserve, Wyanad Wildlife Sanctuary and Hosur Forest Division) representing varying rainfall regimes from high to low, and with histories of intense elephant-agriculture conflict, were selected for the experiments that were conducted over 2-3 months during the pre-harvest period of the kharif season in late 2006. Chilli and tobacco powder mixed with waste oil was applied to ropes strung around agricultural fields of 1.4-5.5 km perimeter and elephant approaches were monitored. Elephants breached the rope fences a few times at all three study sites. Female-led herds were far more deterred (practically 100% reduction) than were solitary males (c. 50%) by the chilli-tobacco rope. Efficacy of this method as a deterrent was significantly better in the low-rainfall regime relative to medium and high-rainfall regimes. The initial promising results present a case for more rigorous experimentation; these would help determine if the elephants avoiding the rope are responding physiologically to the chilli-tobacco smell or merely reacting cautiously to a novel substance in their environment.

Sensitivity of wetland methane emissions to model assumptions: application and model testing against site observations

Abstract. Methane emissions from natural wetlands and rice paddies constitute a large proportion of atmospheric methane, but the magnitude and year-to-year variation of these methane sources is still unpredictable. Here we describe and evaluate the integration of a methane biogeochemical model (CLM4Me; Riley et al., 2011) into the Community Land Model 4.0 (CLM4CN) in order to better explain spatial and temporal variations in methane emissions. We test new functions for soil pH and redox potential that impact microbial methane production in soils. We also constrain aerenchyma in plants in always-inundated areas in order to better represent wetland vegetation. Satellite inundated fraction is explicitly prescribed in the model because there are large differences between simulated fractional inundation and satellite observations. A rice paddy module is also incorporated into the model, where the fraction of land used for rice production is explicitly prescribed. The model is evaluated at the site level with vegetation cover and water table prescribed from measurements. Explicit site level evaluations of simulated methane emissions are quite different than evaluating the grid cell averaged emissions against available measurements. Using a baseline set of parameter values, our model-estimated average global wetland emissions for the period 1993–2004 were 256 Tg CH4 yr−1, and rice paddy emissions in the year 2000 were 42 Tg CH4 yr−1. Tropical wetlands contributed 201 Tg CH4 yr−1, or 78 % of the global wetland flux. Northern latitude (>50 N) systems contributed 12 Tg CH4 yr−1. We expect this latter number may be an underestimate due to the low high-latitude inundated area captured by satellites and unrealistically low high-latitude productivity and soil carbon predicted by CLM4. Sensitivity analysis showed a large range (150–346 Tg CH4 yr−1) in predicted global methane emissions. The large range was sensitive to: (1) the amount of methane transported through aerenchyma, (2) soil pH (± 100 Tg CH4 yr−1), and (3) redox inhibition (± 45 Tg CH4 yr−1).

META-NORD: Towards Sharing of Language Resources in Nordic and Baltic Countries

This paper introduces the META-NORD project which develops Nordic and Baltic part of the European open language resource infrastructure. META-NORD works on assembling, linking across languages, and making widely available the basic language resources used by developers, professionals and researchers to build specific products and applications. The goals of the project, overall approach and specific focus lines on wordnets, terminology resources and treebanks are described. Moreover, results achieved in first five months of the project, i.e. language whitepapers, metadata specification and IPR, are presented.

Finite-State Spell-Checking with Weighted Language and Error Models

In this paper we present simple methods for construction and evaluation of finite-state spell-checking tools using an existing finite-state lexical automaton, freely available finite-state tools and Internet corpora acquired from projects such as Wikipedia. As an example, we use a freely available open-source implementation of Finnish morphology, made with traditional finite-state morphology tools, and demonstrate rapid building of Northern Sámi and English spell checkers from tools and resources available from the Internet.

Microtensile testing of a free-standing Pt-aluminide bond coat

A finite element method (FEM)-based study has been carried out for the design of flat microtensile samples to evaluate tensile properties of Pt-aluminide (PtAl) bond coats. The critical dimensions of the sample have been determined using a two-dimensional elastic stress analysis. In the present testing scheme, the ratio of the dimensions of the holding length to the fillet radius of the sample was found important to achieve failure within the gage length. The effect of gage length and grip head length also has been examined. The simulation predictions have been experimentally verified by conducting microtensile test of an actual PtAl bond coat at room temperature. The sample design and testing scheme suggested in this study have also been found suitable for evaluation of tensile properties at high temperature. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic verification of distributed logic specifications

Formal specification is vital to the development of distributed real-time systems as these systems are inherently complex and safety-critical. It is widely acknowledged that formal specification and automatic analysis of specifications can significantly increase system reliability. Although a number of specification techniques for real-time systems have been reported in the literature, most of these formalisms do not adequately address to the constraints that the aspects of 'distribution' and 'real-time' impose on specifications. Further, an automatic verification tool is necessary to reduce human errors in the reasoning process. In this regard, this paper is an attempt towards the development of a novel executable specification language for distributed real-time systems. First, we give a precise characterization of the syntax and semantics of DL. Subsequently, we discuss the problems of model checking, automatic verification of satisfiability of DL specifications, and testing conformance of event traces with DL specifications. Effective solutions to these problems are presented as extensions to the classical first-order tableau algorithm. The use of the proposed framework is illustrated by specifying a sample problem.

Influence of anvil supports and overhangs in dynamic analysis of three point bend testing

Optimum design of dynamic fracture test rigs demands a thorough appreciation of beam vibration under impact. Analyses invariably presume rigid anvils, and neglect overhang effects. The beam response predicted analytically and numerically in this paper highlights the significant role of anvil rigidity and beam overhangs on the impact dynamics of three point bend (3PB) specimens.