title: Compositional supervisor synthesis with state merging and transition removal

authors: Mohajerani, Sahar

abstract: This working paper proposes a framework to obtain memory-efficient supervisors for large discrete event systems, which are least restrictive, controllable, and nonblocking. The approach combines compositional synthesis and state-based abstraction with transition removal to mitigate the state-space explosion problem and reduce the memory requirements. Hiding and nondeterminism after abstraction are also supported. To ensure least restrictiveness after transition removal, the synthesised supervisor has the form of cascaded maps representing the safe states. These maps have lower space complexity than previous automata-based supervisors. The algorithm has been implemented in the DES software tool Supremica and applied to compute supervisors for several large industrial models. The results show that supervisor maps can be computed efficiently and in many cases require less memory than automata-based supervisors.

text: Compositional supervisor synthesis with state merging and transition removal This working paper proposes a framework to obtain memory-efficient supervisors for large discrete event systems, which are least restrictive, controllable, and nonblocking. The approach combines compositional synthesis and state-based abstraction with transition removal to mitigate the state-space explosion problem and reduce the memory requirements. Hiding and nondeterminism after abstraction are also supported. To ensure least restrictiveness after transition removal, the synthesised supervisor has the form of cascaded maps representing the safe states. These maps have lower space complexity than previous automata-based supervisors. The algorithm has been implemented in the DES software tool Supremica and applied to compute supervisors for several large industrial models. The results show that supervisor maps can be computed efficiently and in many cases require less memory than automata-based supervisors.

year: 2016

title: New Zealand therapist insights into the intersecting fields of sexualities and childhood

authors: Flanagan, Paul G.

subjects: Aotearoa New Zealand

abstract: Little research has been published about therapists’ insights into the intersecting fields of sexualities and childhood. In this paper, I focus on therapists’ responses from my recently completed doctoral research project in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this study, I analysed “talk” by adults (parents, teachers, and therapists), responding to the question: What language is used to describe childhood sexuality by adults in Aotearoa New Zealand? Through group and individual interviews, participants were invited to respond to a range of vignettes about children’s actions that some people regard as sexual. The analysis shows that therapists, like parents and teachers, drew on heteronormative ideas of child development to describe and shape children’s expressions of sexuality. Questions about gender and sexual pleasure in childhood are discussed and the article concludes with an invitation to counsellors to examine their own positioning in their talk about the child and sexuality.

text: New Zealand therapist insights into the intersecting fields of sexualities and childhood Little research has been published about therapists’ insights into the intersecting fields of sexualities and childhood. In this paper, I focus on therapists’ responses from my recently completed doctoral research project in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this study, I analysed “talk” by adults (parents, teachers, and therapists), responding to the question: What language is used to describe childhood sexuality by adults in Aotearoa New Zealand? Through group and individual interviews, participants were invited to respond to a range of vignettes about children’s actions that some people regard as sexual. The analysis shows that therapists, like parents and teachers, drew on heteronormative ideas of child development to describe and shape children’s expressions of sexuality. Questions about gender and sexual pleasure in childhood are discussed and the article concludes with an invitation to counsellors to examine their own positioning in their talk about the child and sexuality.

year: 2020

title: Responding to the message: Responsive written feedback in a Maori to English transition context

authors: Glynn, Ted

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: This paper reports on the writing component of a community and
school Maori to English literacy transition programme implemented in a kura
kaupapa Maori (Maori language immersion school. 21 Year 6, 7 and 8
students received responsive written feedback for their writing in English,
over a ten-week period, during their weekly independent writing time.
Students’ stories were mailed to a young Maori woman (the third author) in a
provincial city 100 kilometres from the kura . She was not known to any of the
students prior to the study, but she acted as an interested audience, and
responded in writing by focussing on the content or messages in students’
stories. She did not provide any corrective feedback on students’ writing.
The study employed an intra-subject multiple-baseline research design across
four school terms, with the responsive written feedback being introduced
sequentially to each of three student Year groups. Measures were taken of
total words written, adventurous words written, as well as holistic ratings of
audience impact and language quality. Data demonstrate positive gains in
both the quantity and quality of students’ writing, as well as maintenance of
high levels of writing accuracy for all Year groups.

text: Responding to the message: Responsive written feedback in a Maori to English transition context This paper reports on the writing component of a community and
school Maori to English literacy transition programme implemented in a kura
kaupapa Maori (Maori language immersion school. 21 Year 6, 7 and 8
students received responsive written feedback for their writing in English,
over a ten-week period, during their weekly independent writing time.
Students’ stories were mailed to a young Maori woman (the third author) in a
provincial city 100 kilometres from the kura . She was not known to any of the
students prior to the study, but she acted as an interested audience, and
responded in writing by focussing on the content or messages in students’
stories. She did not provide any corrective feedback on students’ writing.
The study employed an intra-subject multiple-baseline research design across
four school terms, with the responsive written feedback being introduced
sequentially to each of three student Year groups. Measures were taken of
total words written, adventurous words written, as well as holistic ratings of
audience impact and language quality. Data demonstrate positive gains in
both the quantity and quality of students’ writing, as well as maintenance of
high levels of writing accuracy for all Year groups.

year: 2005