Modeling Adaptation with Klaim

In recent years, it has been argued that systems and applications, in order to deal with their increasing complexity, should be able to adapt their behavior according to new requirements or environment conditions. In this paper, we present an investigation aiming at studying how coordination languages and formal methods can contribute to a better understanding, implementation and use of the mechanisms and techniques for adaptation currently proposed in the literature. Our study relies on the formal coordination language Klaim as a common framework for modeling some well-known adaptation techniques: the IBM MAPE-K loop, the Accord component-based framework for architectural adaptation, and the aspect- and context-oriented programming paradigms. We illustrate our approach through a simple example concerning a data repository equipped with an automated cache mechanism

Modeling adaptation with a tuple-based coordination language

In recent years, it has been argued that systems and applications, in order to deal with their increasing complexity, should be able to adapt their behavior according to new requirements or environment conditions. In this paper, we present a preliminary investigation aiming at studying how coordination languages and formal methods can contribute to a better understanding, implementation and usage of the mechanisms and techniques for adaptation currently proposed in the literature. Our study relies on the formal coordination language Klaim as a common framework for modeling some adaptation techniques, namely the MAPE-K loop, aspect- and context-oriented programming

Why do people demand health?

This paper proposes several ways to extend the standard model for health and health services. Psychological aspects such as status seeking, identity seeking and health adaptation are modelled within the framework of the Grossman model. While the two first aspects may be important psychological mechanisms, the adaptation process seems to be the most relevant process to model within a theoretical dynamic framework. As far as we know, there are no formal analyses of this process in the economic literature.Grossman; health adaption; health services

Formality and informality in the summative assessment of motor vehicle apprentices: a case study

This article explores the interaction of formal and informal attributes of competence‐based assessment. Specifically, it presents evidence from a small qualitative case study of summative assessment practices for competence‐based qualifications within apprenticeships in the motor industry in England. The data are analysed through applying an adaptation of a framework for exploring the interplay of formality and informality in learning. This analysis reveals informal mentoring as a significant element which influences not only the process of assessment, but also its outcomes. We offer different possible interpretations of the data and their analysis, and conclude that, whichever interpretation is adopted, there appears to be a need for greater capacity‐building for assessors at a local level. This could acknowledge a more holistic role for assessors; recognise the importance of assessors’ informal practices in the formal retention and achievement of apprentices; and enhance awareness of inequalities that may be reinforced by both informal and formal attributes of assessment practices

Accredited qualifications for capacity development in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

Increasingly practitioners and policy makers working across the globe are recognising the importance of bringing together disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. From studies across 15 Pacific island nations, a key barrier to improving national resilience to disaster risks and climate change impacts has been identified as a lack of capacity and expertise resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programmes in the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation sectors. In the 2016 UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, it was raised that most of the training material available are not reviewed either through a peer-to-peer mechanism or by the scientific community and are, thus, not following quality assurance standards. In response to these identified barriers, this paper focuses on a call for accredited formal qualifications for capacity development identified in the 2015 United Nations landmark agreements in DRR and CCA and uses the Pacific Islands Region of where this is now being implemented with the launch of the Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals, for DRR and CCA. A key issue is providing an accreditation and quality assurance mechanism that is shared across boundaries. This paper argues that by using the United Nations landmark agreements of 2015, support for a regionally accredited capacity development that ensures all countries can produce, access and effectively use scientific information for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The newly launched Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals who work in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation may offer a model that can be used more widely

Modeling and Analysis of Self-Adaptive Systems Based on Graph Transformation

Software systems nowadays require continuous operation despite changes both in user needs and in their operational environments. Self-adaptive systems are typically instrumented with tools to autonomously perform adaptation to these changes while maintaining some desired properties. In this paper we model and analyze self-adaptive systems by means of typed, attributed graph grammars. The interplay of different grammars representing the application and the adaptation logic is realized by an adaption manager. Within this formal framework we define consistency and operational properties that are maintained despite adaptations and we give static conditions for their verification. The overall approach is supported by the AGG tool that offers the features for modeling, simulating, and analyzing graph transformation systems. A case study modeling a business process that adapts to changing environment conditions is used to demonstrate and validate the formal framework

Institutionalization of Imported Rules in the European Union's New Member States: Bringing Politics Back in the Research Agenda

This paper sets out to explore the puzzle of possible institutionalization or reversal of rules 'imported' by new member states from Central and Eastern Europe during their preparation for accession to the EU. It argues that the institutionalization of formal rules adopted as part of enlargement requirements is not automatic post accession. New formal rules can be reversed, supported by secondary rules and institutionalized or ignored and not implemented. The paper proposes a politics framework that suggests that these different outcomes will be influenced by the environment of weak post communist states and will depend on the area specific configuration of formal and informal veto players and on the EU's ability to impose sanctions. In the case of non acquis imported rules, reversal of formal rules would be possible without sanctions whereas in the case of acquis rules, the likely outcomes are institutionalization or 'empty shells'. Another outcome, 'capture' of the new rules is likely in areas with distributive implications.enlargement; East-Central Europe; acquis communautaire; institutionalisation; administrative adaptation

Using Abstraction in Modular Verification of Synchronous Adaptive Systems

Self-adaptive embedded systems autonomously adapt to changing environment conditions to improve their functionality and to increase their dependability by downgrading functionality in case of fail- ures. However, adaptation behaviour of embedded systems significantly complicates system design and poses new challenges for guaranteeing system correctness, in particular vital in the automotive domain. Formal verification as applied in safety-critical applications must therefore be able to address not only temporal and functional properties, but also dynamic adaptation according to external and internal stimuli. In this paper, we introduce a formal semantic-based framework to model, specify and verify the functional and the adaptation behaviour of syn- chronous adaptive systems. The modelling separates functional and adap- tive behaviour to reduce the design complexity and to enable modular reasoning about both aspects independently as well as in combination. By an example, we show how to use this framework in order to verify properties of synchronous adaptive systems. Modular reasoning in com- bination with abstraction mechanisms makes automatic model checking efficiently applicable

CONCEPT OF TOLERANCE IN THE SYSTEM OF SOCIAL ADAPTATION OF MIGRANTS AS A COMPONENT OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION (ILLUSTRATED IN THE MODEL OF CANADIAN PROVINCE OF QUEBEC AND FRANCE)

The article deals with the notion of tolerance as one of the key values of modern democratic society, included in educational programs of universities, informal organizations, private foundations, religious communities promoting tolerance in the framework of non-formal education. The experience of Canada (classical approaches) and France (innovation) in the field of non-formal education is presented. Due to its flexibility, non-formal education plays a major role in the integration of migrants of different age, social and ethnic groups, determining the prospects for employment, social adaptation, personal development and participation in the state’s democratic life. The issue of socio-cultural adaptation of migrants is of great importance in the contemporary world due to such global undesirable processes as religious and ethnic conflicts, cases of racial discrimination. Migration is a natural process in the era of globalization, which, however, necessitates the adaptation of migrants to the host country’s cultural background. While European countries, recently experiencing an influx of migrants, are urgently searching for mechanisms for adapting the previous socio-cultural experience of migrants to the lifestyle, behavioral norms of the host country, Canadian province of Quebec has been efficiently using the tools of formal and non-formal education for over fifty years to build a more humane and tolerant attitude of citizens to each other, to eliminate conflicts and social aggressio

Selective Adaptation in Networks of Heterogeneous Populations: Model, Simulation, and Experiment

Biological systems often change their responsiveness when subject to persistent stimulation, a phenomenon termed adaptation. In neural systems, this process is often selective, allowing the system to adapt to one stimulus while preserving its sensitivity to another. In some studies, it has been shown that adaptation to a frequent stimulus increases the system's sensitivity to rare stimuli. These phenomena were explained in previous work as a result of complex interactions between the various subpopulations of the network. A formal description and analysis of neuronal systems, however, is hindered by the network's heterogeneity and by the multitude of processes taking place at different time-scales. Viewing neural networks as populations of interacting elements, we develop a framework that facilitates a formal analysis of complex, structured, heterogeneous networks. The formulation developed is based on an analysis of the availability of activity dependent resources, and their effects on network responsiveness. This approach offers a simple mechanistic explanation for selective adaptation, and leads to several predictions that were corroborated in both computer simulations and in cultures of cortical neurons developing in vitro. The framework is sufficiently general to apply to different biological systems, and was demonstrated in two different cases