Recursive parser optimization by rewriting context-free grammars

The analysis of programming languages is a fundamental activity in the process of comprehending, maintaining, documenting and reengineering old software. However, the analysis may sometimes be inefficient because of the parsing methodology adopted. Prolog parsers, for instance, have two main drawbacks: the time spent on extracting information as a result of the backtracking mechanism, and the large memory occupation involved. This paper presents an algorithm that optimizes a top-down parser by imposing a set of rules on the grammar to be analyzed. A methodology is then defined for rewritting a context-free grammar (LL(n) n > = 1), and a tool that can achieve this is illustrated. This tool, called FACTOTUM, has been implemented in LPA Prolog, and works on a PC (IBM-MSDOS) through the Windows medium. FACTOTUM is composed of nearly 250 productions, and is an important part of another reverse engineering tool called RE_Tool (Giannone and Maresca, 1995) which can analyze codes in a multilanguage environment. RE_Tool has been implemented in the software engineering laboratories of DIS at the University of Naples Federico II, where it is currently under experimentation.     

Use of coordinate measuring machines and digital optical machines for the geometric characterization of circumference arcs using the minimum zone method

This paper presents an optimised method for the characterization of circular features of any amplitude, which includes the capture of geometric data, by means of the use of three-coordinate measuring machine or digital optical machines with a CCD camera, and its subsequent mathematical processing. The proposed model determines the radius and the circularity error, based on the minimum zone method, and to this end it uses linear programming techniques, the Simplex programming principles and the limaçon approximation. An experimental study on ring gauges and reference disks is provided, including a comparative analysis using the Chauvenet and Grubbs filtering procedures. Last of all, an uncertainty estimation method is proposed by means of the Monte Carlo simulation. The experimental analysis carried out on ring gauges and reference disks accredit that the algorithm developed, implemented in a Matlab® environment, gives reliable results for any circumference arc considered, regardless of its amplitude.     

High-resolution mapping of oceanic wind fields with skywave radar

The direction of the mean surface wind field in the North Pacific Ocean was mapped on September 25 and 26, 1973, over an area of3 times 10^{6}(km)²by OTH-B HF radar. A spatial resolution of 60 km in range and 15 km in cross range was used at points spaced by 150 km in range and 80 km in cross range. Wind directions were inferred from the upwind/downwind first-order Bragg ratio and the measure of the maximum ratio occurring for radial winds at points near each observation.     

Parallel computer vision on Polymorphic Torus architecture

Polymorphic Torus is a novel interconnection network for SIMD massively parallel computers, able to support effectively both local and global communication. Thanks to this characteristic, Polymorphic Torus is highly suitable for computer vision applications, since vision involves local communication at the low-level stage and global communication at the intermediate- and high-level stages. In this paper we evaluate the performance of Polymorphic Torus in the computer vision domain. We consider a set of basic vision tasks, namely,convolution, histogramming, connected component labeling, Hough transform, extreme point identification, diameter computation, andvisibility, and show how they can take advantage of the Polymorphic Torus communication capabilities. For each basic vision task we propose a Polymorphic Torus parallel algorithm, give its computational complexity, and compare such a complexity with the complexity of the same task inmesh, tree, pyramid, and hypercube interconnection networks. In spite of the fact that Polymorphic Torus has the same wiring complexity as mesh, the comparison shows that in all of the vision tasks under examination it achieves complexity lower than or at most equal to hypercube, which is the most powerful among the interconnection networks considered.     

Mean fetal growth curve adjustment]

OBJECTIVE: Three-dimensional models created by milling machines and stereolithography on the basis of 3-dimensional computed tomography scans have become essential in the diagnosis and therapy planning of oral and maxillofacial disorders. The purpose of this study, based on 3 clinical cases, was to examine the advantages of using 3-dimensional computed tomography scans and 3-dimensional milling models of the maxillary sinus before operative sinus elevation and of developing an operative layout with the aid of 3-dimensional models. REPORT DESIGN: Three patients with atrophy of the maxillary alveolar ridge received computed tomography scans before operative sinus elevation with iliac bone transplants and simultaneous dental implantation. These computed tomography data were used to create 3-dimensional graphic and plastic reconstructions of the maxillary sinuses. RESULTS: The 3-dimensional milling models enabled the development of an exact preoperative layout that took into consideration the exact shape of the iliac bone and the selection of dental screw implants. Furthermore, the models offered the possibility of producing an acrylic device for precise implant insertion. Precise planning resulted in good success with implantation 2 years after surgery. CONCLUSION: Three-dimensional diagnosis and treatment layout have become an acknowledge method of operative maxillary sinus floor augmentation combined with simultaneous dental implantation in the upper jaw in difficult cases of sinus lift operations. As far as transplant shape and sinus anatomy are concerned, this has resulted in greater intraoperative precision. A 1-step procedure can thus be performed for augmentation and implantation through use of a well-adapted block transplant and dental screw implants in patients with extensive alveolar ridge atrophy.     

To predict some of the people some of the time: A reexamination of the moderator variable approach in personality theory.

Bem and Allen (1974) proposed but did not test the notion that trait relevance moderates cross-situational behavior consistency, but did obtain support, albeit weaker than is generally recognized, for a moderator effect of self-reported consistency. Kenrick and Stringfield (1980) showed that self-reported observability of behavior may also moderate self–peer consistency, but replication attempts were not entirely successful. Our investigation produced significant moderator effects on self–peer correlations for trait relevance, consistency, and observability when each of these variables was analyzed alone; we also obtained significant moderator effects for trait relevance and self-reported consistency (but not for observability) when all the variables were included in the same regression analysis. There was significant support for the prediction that the moderators combine additively: Self–peer correlations increased linearly as a function of the number of contributing moderator effects. There was even stronger support for the prediction that the moderators combined in an all-or-nothing manner: Self–peer correlations were high when the level of all three moderators was high, and low when the level of one or more of the three moderators was low. Our future research recommendation? Identify the optimal moderators and the manner in which they can be combined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A 400-W tri-state switching controller for reciprocating linearmotors

A switching controller is described that uses stable limit-cycle theory and phase-locked-loop control for high-power reciprocating linear motor systems. The control system comprises a low-frequency tristate switching circuit, a linear motor, and an axial position sensor along with three distinct feedback loops (peak-amplitude feedback, average-position feedback, and phase feedback). The system was tested on a 400-W reciprocating compressor and achieved efficiencies of greater than 90% with excellent control of the critical operating parameters: speed, stroke, phase, and center position of the linear motor. The system replaces a 70%-efficient high-frequency switching amplifier and classical servo-control system previously used in long-life Stirling-cycle refrigerators for space applications     

Research and development studies on plant and core seismic behaviour for a fast reactor

This paper presents the main features and results of the numerical and experimental studies that were carried out by ENEA in co-operation with ANSALDO and ISMES for the seismic verification of the Italian PEC fast reactor test facility. More precisely, the paper focuses on the wide-ranging research and development programme that has been performed (and recently completed) on the reactor building, the reactor-block, the main vessel, the core and the shutdown system. The needs of these detailed studies are stressed and the feed-backs on the design, necessary to satisfy the seismic safety requirements, are recalled. The general validity of the analyses in the framework of the research and development activities for nuclear reactors is also pointed out.