Platform Dependent Verification: On Engineering Verification Tools for 21st Century

The paper overviews recent developments in platform-dependent explicit-state LTL model checking.Comment: In Proceedings PDMC 2011, arXiv:1111.006

Navigating Independent Double Checks for Safer Care: A Nursing Perspective

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore registered nurses’ understanding and practice of “independent double-checks” prior to administration of high-alert medications. The study used a qualitative descriptive design for data collection and data analysis. It included thirteen participants from a hospital located in southern New Hampshire. Results of the study revealed a core theme of navigating independent double checks (IDC) for safer care. Two major themes stemming from the core theme were also uncovered. Navigating IDC through knowing and navigating IDC through nurse partnership both focused on the perception and practice on IDC prior to administration of high alert medications. IDC was accepted and promoted as best practice, but the definition and process is still unclear. Having a universal definition will assist in clarity of the process and in turn, promote ensuring safe administration of high alert medications to patients. Keywords: independent double check, safer care, knowing, nurse partnershi

On Formal Methods for Collective Adaptive System Engineering. {Scalable Approximated, Spatial} Analysis Techniques. Extended Abstract

In this extended abstract a view on the role of Formal Methods in System Engineering is briefly presented. Then two examples of useful analysis techniques based on solid mathematical theories are discussed as well as the software tools which have been built for supporting such techniques. The first technique is Scalable Approximated Population DTMC Model-checking. The second one is Spatial Model-checking for Closure Spaces. Both techniques have been developed in the context of the EU funded project QUANTICOL.Comment: In Proceedings FORECAST 2016, arXiv:1607.0200

A Study of the PDGF Signaling Pathway with PRISM

In this paper, we apply the probabilistic model checker PRISM to the analysis of a biological system -- the Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) signaling pathway, demonstrating in detail how this pathway can be analyzed in PRISM. We show that quantitative verification can yield a better understanding of the PDGF signaling pathway.Comment: In Proceedings CompMod 2011, arXiv:1109.104

A probabilistic model checking approach to analysing reliability, availability, and maintainability of a single satellite system

Satellites now form a core component for space based systems such as GPS and GLONAS which provide location and timing information for a variety of uses. Such satellites are designed to operate in-orbit and have lifetimes of 10 years or more. Reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) analysis of these systems has been indispensable in the design phase of satellites in order to achieve minimum failures or to increase mean time between failures (MTBF) and thus to plan maintainability strategies, optimise reliability and maximise availability. In this paper, we present formal modelling of a single satellite and logical specification of its reliability, availability and maintainability properties. The probabilistic model checker PRISM has been used to perform automated quantitative analyses of these properties

Analog and Mixed Signal Verification

More and more electronic systems have components that are not purely digital. Verification of such systems is a much less developed discipline than the digital equivalents and the application of formal (mathematically complete) techniques is a nascent area. In this paper, we will discuss the nature of analog circuit design and describe the way verification is done in practice today. We will describe some “formal” approaches coming from the analog design community. We will describe some of the approaches to formal verification that have been presented in recent literature. Finally, we will mention some areas where there are opportunities for future work

Checking the fact-checkers in 2008: predicting political ad scrutiny and assessing consistency

Which types of political ads are most likely to draw criticism from fact-checkers? Are fact-checkers consistent in their evaluations of political ads? Examining general election television ads from the 2008 U.S. presidential race, and based upon the evaluations of FactCheck.org, PolitiFact.com, and the Washington Post's Fact Checker, this study demonstrates it was the attack ads from candidates that were most likely to draw scrutiny from the fact-checkers. Most importantly, a high level of agreement between the fact-checkers indicates their success at selecting political claims that can be consistently evaluated. While political advertisers are increasingly using evidence to support their claims, what may be more critical in drawing evaluations from fact-checkers is the verifiability of a claim. The implications of consistent fact-checking on the public, political actors, journalism and democracy are discussed. With the revelation that fact-checking can be consistently practiced, localized efforts at fact-checking need encouragement, particularly as political TV ads increasingly drown out other potential sources of information for the public and increasingly are used in downballot races, local initiatives, referendums and judicial races

Applying Formal Methods to Networking: Theory, Techniques and Applications

Despite its great importance, modern network infrastructure is remarkable for the lack of rigor in its engineering. The Internet which began as a research experiment was never designed to handle the users and applications it hosts today. The lack of formalization of the Internet architecture meant limited abstractions and modularity, especially for the control and management planes, thus requiring for every new need a new protocol built from scratch. This led to an unwieldy ossified Internet architecture resistant to any attempts at formal verification, and an Internet culture where expediency and pragmatism are favored over formal correctness. Fortunately, recent work in the space of clean slate Internet design---especially, the software defined networking (SDN) paradigm---offers the Internet community another chance to develop the right kind of architecture and abstractions. This has also led to a great resurgence in interest of applying formal methods to specification, verification, and synthesis of networking protocols and applications. In this paper, we present a self-contained tutorial of the formidable amount of work that has been done in formal methods, and present a survey of its applications to networking.Comment: 30 pages, submitted to IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorial