On the Taylor expansion of $\lambda$-terms and the groupoid structure of their rigid approximants

We show that the normal form of the Taylor expansion of a $\lambda$-term is isomorphic to its B\"ohm tree, improving Ehrhard and Regnier's original proof along three independent directions. First, we simplify the final step of the proof by following the left reduction strategy directly in the resource calculus, avoiding to introduce an abstract machine ad hoc. We also introduce a groupoid of permutations of copies of arguments in a rigid variant of the resource calculus, and relate the coefficients of Taylor expansion with this structure, while Ehrhard and Regnier worked with groups of permutations of occurrences of variables. Finally, we extend all the results to a nondeterministic setting: by contrast with previous attempts, we show that the uniformity property that was crucial in Ehrhard and Regnier's approach can be preserved in this setting.

Electronic cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy among patients with COPD: protocol for an open-label two arm randomized controlled pilot trial

Background Smoking cessation is the most effective means of slowing the decline of lung function associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While effective smoking cessation treatments are available, they are underutilized and nearly half of people with COPD continue to smoke. By addressing both nicotine and behavioral dependence, electronic cigarettes (EC) could help people with COPD reduce the harm of combustible cigarettes (CC) through reductions in number of Cigarettes per Day (CPD) or quitting CC completely. The purpose of this pilot study is to identify barriers and facilitators to the use of and assess the preliminary effectiveness of EC as a harm reduction strategy among people with COPD. Methods In an open-label two-arm randomized controlled trial pilot study, 60 patients identified as smokers with a COPD diagnosis via electronic health records from a large urban health center are randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either standard care [counseling + nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)] or counseling + EC. The NRT arm will receive nicotine patches and nicotine lozenges for 12 weeks. The EC arm will receive EC for 12 weeks. Both cohorts will receive counseling from a licensed mental health counselor. Using ecological momentary assessment, participants will report their use of CC in both arms and EC use in the EC arm daily via text message. Primary outcomes will be feasibility and acceptability of intervention, and secondary outcomes will be reduction in CPD and change in COPD symptoms as measured by COPD Assessment Tool (CAT) score at 12-weeks. EC displacement of CC. To explore attitudes towards the use of EC as a harm-reduction strategy for patients with COPD, interviews will be performed with a sample of participants from both study arms. Discussion Despite decades of availability of smoking cessation medications, nearly half of people with COPD still smoke. This study aims to address the unmet need for feasible and effective strategies for reducing CC use among those with COPD, which has the potential to significantly improve the health of people with COPD who smoke. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04465318.

Unpacking the Role of Neoliberalism on the Politics of Poverty Reduction Policies in Ontario, Canada: A Descriptive Case Study and Critical Analysis

This paper employs a descriptive case study method to analyze and critically review the emergence of the provincial poverty reduction strategy in Ontario, Canada which was implemented in 2008 and renewed in 2014. The purpose of this study is two-fold: first, it defines the principles of neoliberalism and explores the historical growth of neoliberal thought in Canada, and specifically within Ontario, beginning in the 1980s to the present-day. Drawing on a combination of primary, secondary and grey literature, this paper discusses the ways in which neoliberal ideologies and rhetoric became deeply rooted in political thought and discourse within the province. Employing a critical theory framework, the paper highlights the contrasting ways in which neoliberal values were adopted by the different political parties in power and the detrimental impact this espousal had on individuals living in poverty within Ontario. Second, the paper illustrates the powerful ways in which anti-poverty grassroots movements and social advocacy groups assembled to push for the creation of a provincial poverty reduction strategy. The analysis ends with a critique of the neoliberal influences on the strategy’s recommendations and the future outlook of the poverty reduction strategy based on the current political climate within the province.

Applying uncertainty reduction strategy for improving performance of questionnaire technique of solving cold user problem

Product recommendation systems are information filtering systems that uses ratings and predictions to make new product suggestions. There are many product recommendation system techniques in existence, these include collaborative filtering, content based filtering, knowledge based filtering, utility based filtering and demographic based filtering. Collaborative filtering techniques is known to be the most popular product recommendation system technique. It utilizes user’s previous product ratings to make new product suggestions. However collaborative filtering have some weaknesses, which include cold start, grey sheep issue, synonyms issue. However the major weakness of collaborative filtering approaches is cold user problem. Cold user problem is the failure of product recommendation systems to make product suggestions for new users. Literature investigation had shown that cold user problem could be effectively addressed using active learning technique of administering personalized questionnaire. Unfortunately, the result of personalized questionnaire technique could contain some user preference uncertainties where the product database is too large (as in Amazon). This research work addresses the weakness of personalized questionnaire technique by applying uncertainty reduction strategy to improve the result obtained from administering personalized questionnaire. In our experimental design we perform four different experiments; Personalized questionnaire approach of solving user based coldstart was implemented using Movielens dataset of 1M size, Personalized questionnaire approach of solving user based cold start was implemented using Movielens dataset of 10M size, Personalized questionnaire with uncertainty reduction was implemented using Movielens dataset of 1M size, and also Personalized questionnaire with uncertainty reduction was implemented using Movielens dataset of 10M size. The experimental result shows RMSE, Precision and Recall improvement of 0.21, 0.17 and 0.18 respectively in 1M dataset and 0.17, 0.14 and 0.20 in 10M dataset respectively over personalized questionnaire.