Compliant Programs Research Articles

Session-typed concurrent contracts

In sequential languages, dynamic contracts are usually expressed as boolean functions without externally observable effects, written within the language. We propose an analogous notion of concurrent contracts for languages with session-typed message-passing concurrency. Concurrent contracts are partial identity processes that monitor the bidirectional communication along channels and raise an alarm if a contract is violated. Concurrent contracts are session-typed in the usual way and must also satisfy a transparency requirement, which guarantees that terminating compliant programs with and without the contracts are observationally equivalent. We illustrate concurrent contracts with several examples. We also show how to generate contracts from a refinement session-type system and show that the resulting monitors are redundant for programs that can statically be seen to be well-typed.

Flexible, collaborative, and meaningful? The case of the US coastal nonpoint pollution control program

Flexibility and collaboration are a common prescription for complex, transboundary problems such as nonpoint source (NPS) water pollution. This paper examines the case of the United States Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program (CNPCP), under which all 28 coastal states must develop comprehensive NPS management programs. The CNPCP allows states to satisfy requirements using voluntary, non-regulatory measures, and grants considerable flexibility in terms of institutional coordination and public participation. Thus, it is unclear whether compliance – which is incentivized with Federal funds – should be associated with improved environmental outcomes. Using a remotely sensed land cover census of 800 coastal counties from 1996 to 2010, this paper tests whether compliant programs – and particular participation and coordination mechanisms – are associated with different rates of forest and wetlands conversion. Approved states are associated with decreased rates of forest and wetlands conversion, but minimal differences are found with respect to specific participation and coordination strategies.

Emerging Subspecialties in Neurology: Neuro-ophthalmology.

Editors' Note: Neuro-ophthalmology is the theme of this week's Writ e Click. In reference to “The APOSTEL recommendations for reporting quantitative optical coherence tomography studies,” Drs. Cameron and Albrecht et al. discuss the standardization of nomenclature for optical coherence tomography. Drs. Smith and Lee advise that several programs were unintentionally omitted from the listing of Association of University Professors in Ophthalmology Fellowship Compliance Committee–compliant programs found in …

The APOSTEL recommendations for reporting quantitative optical coherence tomography studies.

Editors' Note: Neuro-ophthalmology is the theme of this week's Writ e Click. In reference to “The APOSTEL recommendations for reporting quantitative optical coherence tomography studies,” Drs. Cameron and Albrecht et al. discuss the standardization of nomenclature for optical coherence tomography. Drs. Smith and Lee advise that several programs were unintentionally omitted from the listing of Association of University Professors in Ophthalmology Fellowship Compliance Committee–compliant programs found in “Emerging Subspecialties in Neurology: Neuro-ophthalmology.” A full list is available online. —Megan Alcauskas, MD, and Robert C. Griggs, MD I …

Limitations in ROP Programs in 32 Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Five States in Mexico

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the main cause of avoidable blindness in children in Mexico despite National ROP Guidelines and examination of preterm infants being a legal requirement. Objective. To assess coverage of ROP programs and their compliance with national guidelines. Study Design. Thirty-two neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in five of the largest states were visited. Staff were interviewed to collect information on their ROP programs which were defined as (1) compliant, if National Guidelines for screening and treatment were followed, (2) noncompliant, if other approaches were used, or (3) no program. Results. Only 10 (31.2%) had fully compliant programs and 11 (34.4%) had no program. In the remaining 11 (34.4%) different screening criteria were used (7 units): screening was undertaken by an ophthalmologist in unsalaried time (4), was not undertaken in the NICU (2), and was undertaken by a neonatologist (1) and/or Avastin was used as first-line treatment (7). Poorer states had poorer programs. Conclusions. Despite legislation mandating eye examination of preterm births, many ROP programs in the largest cities in Mexico require improvement or need to be established. Prevention of blindness due to ROP needs to be prioritized in Mexico to control the epidemic of ROP blindness.

Unsafe at any speed? Borders, mobility and ‘safe citizenship’

To what extent are emerging strategies to manage and secure the US border contributing to a redesign of citizenship? This article considers the specific architecture of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), the panoply of compliant programs and documents, primarily trusted traveller programs such as NEXUS, and the accompanying commitments to ‘governing through risk’ as conditions of possibility for contemporary citizenship (re)design. In particular, the article considers borders and the politics occurring there to be critical sites where ‘designing safe citizens’ is worked out on the ground. The article asserts that to a certain extent, the border and contemporary bordering practices are designed into contemporary citizenship, as both borders and related practices proliferate far beyond the spatial coordinates of the geographic border. The emerging redesigned citizenship shares much with conceptions of ‘netizens’ raised in relation to the effects networks have on economy, society and politics. Specifically, it feeds on a similar ‘naïve instrumentalism’ that presents the implementation of surveillance and biometric technologies, to name just two, that are integral to contemporary bordering practices, in distinctly ahistorical and apolitical manners. Moreover, citizenship is (re)designed as ‘safe’ according to the logic of ‘governing through risk’, where one's integration into the database renders the citizen ‘safe’ insofar as they are a knowable, manageable and governable subject, thus mitigating potential risk.

Using CAS Standards to Measure Learning Outcomes of Student Affairs Preparation Programs

A majority of recent graduates from master’s level student affairs preparation programs report having a clear understanding of 58 of 60 foundational learning outcomes derived from the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) guidelines. While there were only two significant differences between selfreported learning of graduates from CAS compliant and non-compliant programs on 60 items, data suggest that recent graduates from CAS compliant programs report greater confidence in their preparation in 48 of the 60 outcomes presented in the questionnaire.

Using CAS Standards to Measure Learning Outcomes of Student Affairs Preparation Programs

A majority of recent graduates from master’s level student affairs preparation programs report having a clear understanding of 58 of 60 foundational learning outcomes derived from the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) guidelines. While there were only two significant differences between selfreported learning of graduates from CAS compliant and non-compliant programs on 60 items, data suggest that recent graduates from CAS compliant programs report greater confidence in their preparation in 48 of the 60 outcomes presented in the questionnaire.

AUTOSCALER for C: an optimizing floating-point to integer C program converter for fixed-point digital signal processors

A translator which converts C-based floating-point digital signal processing programs to optimized integer C versions is developed for convenient programming and efficient use of fixed-point digital signal processors (DSPs). It not only converts data types and supports automatic scaling, but also conducts shift optimization to enhance execution speed. Since the input and output of this translator are ANSI C compliant programs, it can be used for any fixed-point DSP that supports ANSI C compiler. The number of shift operations that are required for scaling in the converted integer programs is reduced by equalizing the integer word-lengths of relevant variables and constants. For an optimal reduction, a cost function that represents the overhead of scaling is formulated by considering the data- path of a target processor, program parsing, and profiling results. This cost function is then minimized by using either integer linear programming or simulated annealing algorithms. The translated integer C codes are 5-400 times faster than the floating-point versions when applied to TMS320C50, TMS320C60 and Motorola 56000 DSPs.