Pushdown Normal-Form Bisimulation: A Nominal Context-Free Approach to Program Equivalence

We propose Pushdown Normal Form (PDNF) Bisimulation to verify contextual equivalence in higher-order functional programming languages with local state. Similar to previous work on Normal Form (NF) bisimulation, PDNF Bisimulation is sound and complete with respect to contextual equivalence. However, unlike traditional NF Bisimulation, PDNF Bisimulation is also decidable for a class of program terms that reach bounded configurations but can potentially have unbounded call stacks and input an unbounded number of unknown functions from their context. Our approach relies on the principle that, in model-checking for reachability, pushdown systems can be simulated by finite-state automata designed to accept their initial/final stack content. We embody this in a stackless Labelled Transition System (LTS), together with an on-the-fly saturation procedure for call stacks, upon which bisimulation is defined. To enhance the effectiveness of our bisimulation, we develop up-to techniques and confirm their soundness for PDNF Bisimulation. We develop a prototype implementation of our technique which is able to verify equivalence in examples from practice and the literature that were out of reach for previous work

An Introduction to Different Approaches to Initial Semantics

Characterizing programming languages with variable binding as initial objects, was first achieved by Fiore, Plotkin, and Turi in their seminal paper published at LICS'99. To do so, in particular to prove initiality theorems, they developed a framework based on monoidal categories, functors with strengths, and $\Sigma$-monoids. An alternative approach using modules over monads was later introduced by Hirschowitz and Maggesi, for endofunctor categories, that is, for particular monoidal categories. This approach has the advantage of providing a more general and abstract definition of signatures and models; however, no general initiality result is known for this notion of signature. Furthermore, Matthes and Uustalu provided a categorical formalism for constructing (initial) monads via Mendler-style recursion, that can also be used for initial semantics. The different approaches have been developed further in several articles. However, in practice, the literature is difficult to access, and links between the different strands of work remain underexplored. In the present work, we give an introduction to initial semantics that encompasses the three different strands. We develop a suitable "pushout" of Hirschowitz and Maggesi's framework with Fiore's, and rely on Matthes and Uustalu's formalism to provide modular proofs. For this purpose, we generalize both Hirschowitz and Maggesi's framework, and Matthes and Uustalu's formalism to the general setting of monoidal categories studied by Fiore and collaborators. Moreover, we provide fully worked out presentation of some basic instances of the literature, and an extensive discussion of related work explaining the links between the different approaches

A Petri net view of covalent bonds

In nature and chemistry the interactions among elements often form bonds and among them covalent bonds are relevant, involving the sharing of electrons. Another relevant and compelling facet of calculi modelling covalent bonds is that certain steps in reactions are the result of concerting different activities, possibly reversing some of them. Starting from a calculus for covalent bonds, we investigate on how it can be done in a compositional fashion and how it can be encoded in suitable Petri nets. The outcome gives us a compositional covalent bond calculus and a truly distributed implementation. On these results it is possible to build a behavioural equivalence among terms.Fil: Melgratti, Hernan Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Computación. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Computación; ArgentinaFil: Mezzina, Claudio Antares. Università Degli Studi Di Urbino Carlo Bo; ItaliaFil: Pinna, G. Michele. Università degli Studi di Cagliari; Itali

Sonobactericide

This thesis proposes sonobactericide, which is the use of ultrasound and exogenous cavitation nuclei, such as microbubbles, either alone or as a therapeutic complement for biofilm eradication or as a theragnostic for bacterial infections. Using infective endocarditis clinical isolates of _Staphylococcus aureus_, three different translational _in vitro_ biofilm models were developed and used in this thesis. Observed sonobactericide effects that can enhance therapy were biofilm disruption with bacterial dispersal, sonoporation (membrane permeabilization), fibrin strand manipulation (bending, recovery, and breaking), and synergistic responses when a thrombolytic and/or antibiotic were present. This thesis paves the way towards the clinical translation of sonobactericide as an effective treatment, diagnostic, or theranostic strategy employed in infectious disease care

Ternary III-Nitride Semiconductors for Thermoelectricity and Light Emitters

III-Nitride semiconductors have significant applications for lasers and energy-efficient technologies including solid state lighting. Specifically, the use of InGaN alloy is of great interest as visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) active region. Conventional LEDs employ InGaN quantum wells (QWs) grown on GaN templates, which lead to large QW strain from the lattice mismatch between InGaN QW and GaN substrate / barriers. Our works have pursued the design of InGaN QWs with large optical matrix element to address the charge separation issue, resulting in 3X enhanced efficiency for green-emitting LEDs. In addition to employing large overlap QWs design, my research work has extended the approach by using ternary InGaN substrate for realizing QWs with reduced strain and polarization fields in the QWs. For green- and red-emitting InGaN QWs on ternary substrate, the spontaneous emission rates were found as ~3 times of the conventional approach.In contrast to the progress in visible nitride emitters, advances have only been realized for ultraviolet (UV) LEDs recently. The pursuit of efficient UV lasers has been limited to 1) growth challenges of high quality AlGaN gain media; 2) lack of understanding in gain characteristics of the QW employed for UV laser. My work has pointed out the first time about the physical challenge of the AlGaN QWs, which is related to the valence subbands crossover in high Al-content AlGaN QWs gain media. The valence subbands crossover is of key importance to realize large transverse-magnetic polarized gain for deep-UV lasers. We have also proposed the novel AlGaN-delta-GaN QW structure, which led to large transverse-electric polarized gain for mid-UV lasers.Furthermore, the high power density requirements in III-Nitride devices lead to the demand of solid state cooling technology, particularly for nitride-based thermoelectric materials that can be integrated with GaN devices. Our works presented the high thermoelectric figure of merit Z*T value from lattice-matched AlInN alloy grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), which represent the record Z*T value reported for any III-nitride semiconductors. In addition, we have proposed the novel nanostructure engineering of three-layer superlattice for ~2-times enhanced thermoelectric properties for solid state cooling applications

Internet traffic classification for high-performance and off-the-shelf systems

Tesis doctoral inédita, leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Departamento de Tecnología Electrónica y de las Comunicaciones, 2013

Augmented Reality and Its Application

Augmented Reality (AR) is a discipline that includes the interactive experience of a real-world environment, in which real-world objects and elements are enhanced using computer perceptual information. It has many potential applications in education, medicine, and engineering, among other fields. This book explores these potential uses, presenting case studies and investigations of AR for vocational training, emergency response, interior design, architecture, and much more

How does organizational restructuring contribute to HSR productivity growth?

Thesis (S.M. in Transportation)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-154).The institutional reform of Japan National Railway (JNR) in 1987 has been considered as a great success. After the Japanese railway reform, European countries introduced vertical separation management. However, the question whether the new companies' railway business has been improved by the privatization and vertical separation is still not well known. To evaluate the effect of the privatization and vertical separation, this thesis applied "productivity analysis". First, we set Tokaido Shinkansen and the Paris-Lyon line as our research object because that these lines introduced the latest technology when it had been constructed. This means the technological development which increases the productivity has been very limited. Second, these lines have been profitable railway lines for a long time. This thesis used multi-factor productivity (MFP). We set passenger-km and revenue as output separately, and personnel, non-personnel, and capital related expenses as input data. As a result, this thesis found that the JNR privatization has contributed to increase MFP of Tokaido Shinkansen after 1987. This thesis reviewed the previous research. As a result, we figured out that their research model has difficulties showing the effect of introducing the vertical separation. From the Swedish railway data, we judged even the small market competition has more relationship with increased productivity than the style of vertical separation. We believed that the future NEC HSR should introduce private sector's funds, and be operated by private sectors with competition within operators.by Ryusuke Sakamoto.S.M.in Transportatio