Abstract
The XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language), proposed by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) as the new standard for data representation and exchange in the Internet, is a document mark-up (meta) language that seems adequate to the needs of today's World Wide Web. With the proliferation of XML documents in the Web, it is necessary to store and query them efficiently. In this article, it is our purpose to investigate the different approaches currently available to the storage and management of XML data. Moreover, we intend to analyse the main characteristics of some of the XML query languages, which have been proposed both by the Database and Internet communities, namely XML-QL, XQL, Quilt, and Xquery. The latter has been proposed by the W3C Query Working Group with the purpose of providing a standard for a XML query language. We believe that a query language such as Xquery will certainly accelerate the utilization of XML as an alternative approach to data storage, since it will make possible to interrogate, efficiently and in unpredictable ways (queries ad hoc), XML documents.

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The eXtreme Processing Platform (XPP) is a unique reconfigurable computing (RC) architecture supported by a complete set of design tools. This paper presents the XPP Vectorizing C Compiler XPP-VC, the first high-level compiler for this architecture. It uses new mapping techniques, combined with efficient vectorization. A temporal partitioning phase guarantees the compilation of programs with unlimited complexity, provided that only the supported C subset is used. A new loop partitioning scheme permits to map large loops of any kind. It is not constrained by loop dependences or nesting levels. To our knowledge, the compilation performance is unmatched by any other compiler for RC. Preliminary evaluations show compilation times of only a few seconds from C code to configuration binaries and performance speedups over standard microprocessor implementations. The overall technology represents a significant step toward RC architectures which are faster and simpler to program.

Abstract
Computerized analysis of rat gait is becoming an invaluable technique used by some peripheral nerve investigators for the evaluation of function. In this article we describe the use of a biomechanical model of the foot and ankle that allows a quantitative assessment and description of the ankle angle, reflecting plantarflexion and dorsiflexion during the stance phase of gait. Kinematic data of 144 trial walks from 36 normal rats were recorded with a high-speed digital image camera at 225 images per second. The ankle angular changes associated with the specific temporal events of foot placement on the ground through the stance phase were assessed. The information obtained was used to propose a new subdivision of the stance phase in the rat into three major components. This approach will provide a helpful research tool to analyze gait data that rely on the accurate determination of spatiotemporal foot events. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Abstract
The performance of methods to manage projects depends heavily on the features of their project networks. This is particularly true for methods devoted to project scheduling, risk analysis and resources allocation. Therefore, a long line of research has been developed to generate benchmark sets of project networks and several sets have been proposed in the literature. Unfortunately, no comparative analyses of their features were published and hence serious doubts about the comparability of results using different benchmark sets can be raised. In this paper, a multi-dimensional taxonomy for the morphology of project networks is used and four benchmark sets are evaluated: Patterson collection of problems (Patterson JH. A comparison of exact approaches for solving the multiple constrained resource, project scheduling problem. Management Science 1984;30:854-867) and the sets produced by the generators due to Agrawal et al. Agrawal MK, Elmaghraby SE, Herroelen WS. DAGEN a generator of testsets for project activity nets. European Journal of Operational Research 1996;90:376-382. Kolisch R, Sprecher A, Drexl A. Characterization and generation of a general class of resource - constrained project scheduling problems. Management Science 1995;41:1693-1703. Tavares Tavares LV. Advanced models in project management. Kluwer, 1999 and Tavares et al. Tavares LV, Antunes Ferreira JA. Coelho JS. The risk of delay of a project in terms of the morphology of its network. European Journal of Operational Research 1999;119:510-537. Original results about the lack of representativeness of these sets are obtained showing that misleading conclusions can be deduced. The last set is, by far, that one covering most extensively the morphologic space of instances which could be foreseen because the generation of networks is carried out in terms of an wider range of parameters. This conclusion is quite useful for project managers willing to assess alternative methods to solve their problems based on project networks.