In functional programming, small programs are often combined to construct larger, more complex ones. The component reuse encouraged by this modular style of programming yields many benefits, but, unfortunately, modular programs also tend to be less efficient than their monolithic counterparts. Inefficiency is significantly attributable to the construction of intermediate data structures which "glue" together the smaller program components into larger ones. Fusion is the process of removing intermediate data structures from modularly constructed programs. Two particularly successful approaches to achieving fusion in functional languages have emerged in recent years. The first is a catamorphic fusion technique based on the promotion theorems of category theory. The second is a shortcut based on parametricity which fuses compositional programs via canned applications of traditional fold/unfold program transformation steps. Both techniques apply only to programs written in terms ...

The advanced data models for PAS that make these systems superior to their table-oriented antecedents (RDBMS) have an impact on the formalisms that are needed to capture these models and their appropiate query languages (eg. ODMG's OQL). Queries that are nested to arbitrary depth, path expressions, and complex predicates pose challenges on the query translation process. The work package RT2.1 will identify generic (algebraic) operators that allow the eOEcient translation of such queries. These operators will account for the various bulk types the data models feature. Optimisation techniques have to be found, adapted, and validated. PAS query languages allow to mix operations on bulk types and scalars (just like programming languages). Monad calculi treat bulk and scalar types in a uniform way, and allow for reasoning about arithmetics and general computation. This ooeers the perspective of a hybrid approach to query translation and optimisation, combining the power of algebra and calcu...

It is the business of the computational linguist to give an account of how language is used — that is, to explain how it is that a physically-realizable system could ever give rise to the diversity of language behaviors that ordinary people exhibit. At least, this is