On the Structure and Complexity of Rational Sets of Regular Languages

In a recent thread of papers, we have introduced FQL, a precise specification language for test coverage, and developed the test case generation engine FShell for ANSI C. In essence, an FQL test specification amounts to a set of regular languages, each of which has to be matched by at least one test execution. To describe such sets of regular languages, the FQL semantics uses an automata-theoretic concept known as rational sets of regular languages (RSRLs). RSRLs are automata whose alphabet consists of regular expressions. Thus, the language accepted by the automaton is a set of regular expressions. In this paper, we study RSRLs from a theoretic point of view. More specifically, we analyze RSRL closure properties under common set theoretic operations, and the complexity of membership checking, i.e., whether a regular language is an element of a RSRL. For all questions we investigate both the general case and the case of finite sets of regular languages. Although a few properties are left as open problems, the paper provides a systematic semantic foundation for the test specification language FQL

Removing the Digital Divide for Senior Web Users

It is hard for the elderly to use the internet to find the resource they want. Usually help is needed for them to complete the task on the technology things. The main reason for this project is to research ideas on encourage senior people to make use of the web to locate helps they want, such as finding volunteers and professional helps. The scope of this project is to develop a new way of web access and content presentation methodologies that let senior people getting help from volunteers and various service providers more easily that incorporates social networking technology e.g. Facebook. By incorporating the social network web site like Facebook into the web application, senior people will be able to find volunteering help or other related service providers through social networking. Volunteers will show up in Google map in search results for senior to easily locate helps. Senior people can also search for self help videos tutorials through the web application search engine. A mobile version of the senior user application will also be developed for easy access on the road. Other features that benefit senior users includes voice input, control / content posting and collaborative social networking where a sponsors would sponsor a help task volunteer undertake

Assisted coverage closure

Malfunction of safety-critical systems may cause damage to people and the environment. Software within those systems is rigorously designed and verified according to domain specific guidance, such as ISO26262 for automotive safety. This paper describes academic and industrial co-operation in tool development to support one of the most stringent of the requirements --- achieving full code coverage in requirements-driven testing. We present a verification workflow supported by a tool that integrates the coverage measurement tool RapiCover with the test-vector generator FShell. The tool assists closing the coverage gap by providing the engineer with test vectors that help in debugging coverage-related code quality issues and creating new test cases, as well as justifying the presence of unreachable parts of the code in order to finally achieve full effective coverage according to the required criteria. We illustrate the tool's practical utility on automotive industry benchmarks. It generates 8 times more MC/DC coverage than random search

A multi-mode sonar transmitter

This project was initiated to evaluate appropriate microprocessor and digital logic techniques that could increase the flexibility and effectiveness of a sonar transmitter. The study led to a multi-channel signal synthesis concept designed to exploit 'phased array' steering techniques. Two versions of the equipment have now been built and evaluated. Mk.I is a relatively low power 15 channel system with 2 kilowatts total electrical power using a 40 kHz 15 λ x 1 line array. This system proved the practicability of the basic concept and its success led to the 16 kilowatt Mk2 high power version which drives a 16λ x 16 λ wideband transducer array. The study included: The design and construction of a multi-channel signal generator. The writing of control and signal synthesis software. The design, evaluation and commissioning of suitable linear power amplifiers . Investigations into suitable transducers and phased array design, leading to the manufacture of suitable matched wide band multi-channel 'staved' transducer arrays. Finally, a series of trials were made in a variety of open water conditions to evaluate the systems performance and investigate the multiple modes of operation that have been developed. The system has successfully demonstrated that transmitter beam steering is both practical and flexible. The techniques implemented permit sector interrogation by 'within-pulse' type sweeps, by 'Ripple-fire' and by transmitting steered 'Pings' sequentially on prededermined bearings. Each mode allows considerable flexibility in the generated waveform shape and frequency. The 'Multi-Mode' capability of this approach was conceived primarily as a research tool but many of the modes can be isolated and exploited in dedicated applications

The Forensic Restrictiveness Questionnaire : development, validation and revision

Introduction: Forensic psychiatric care is often practiced in closed institutions. These highly regulated, secure, and prescriptive environments arguably reduce patient autonomy, self-expression, and personhood. Taken together these settings are restrictive as patients’ active participation in clinical, organizational, community, and personal life-worlds are curtailed. The consequences of patients’ experiences of restrictiveness have not been explored empirically. This study aimed to develop a psychometrically-valid measure of experiences of restrictiveness. This paper presents the development, validation, and revision of the Forensic Restrictiveness Questionnaire (FRQ). Methods: In total, 235 patients recruited from low, medium, and high secure hospitals across England completed the FRQ. The dimensionality of the 56-item FRQ was tested using Principle Axis Factor Analysis and parallel analysis. Internal consistency was explored with Cronbach’s α. Ward climate (EssenCES) and quality of life (FQL-SV) questionnaires were completed by participants as indicators of convergent validity. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s α guided the removal of items that did not scale adequately. Results: The analysis indicated good psychometric properties. EFA revealed a unidimensional structure, suggesting a single latent factor. Convergent validity was confirmed as the FRQ was significantly negatively correlated with quality of life (Spearman’s ρ = −0.72) and ward climate (Spearman’s ρ = −0.61). Internal consistency was strong (α = 0.93). Forty-one items were removed from the pilot FRQ. The data indicate that a final 15-item FRQ is a valid and internally reliable measure. Conclusion: The FRQ offers a novel and helpful method for clinicians and researchers to measure and explore forensic patients’ experiences of restrictiveness within secure hospitals

A survey of machine learning techniques applied to self organizing cellular networks

In this paper, a survey of the literature of the past fifteen years involving Machine Learning (ML) algorithms applied to self organizing cellular networks is performed. In order for future networks to overcome the current limitations and address the issues of current cellular systems, it is clear that more intelligence needs to be deployed, so that a fully autonomous and flexible network can be enabled. This paper focuses on the learning perspective of Self Organizing Networks (SON) solutions and provides, not only an overview of the most common ML techniques encountered in cellular networks, but also manages to classify each paper in terms of its learning solution, while also giving some examples. The authors also classify each paper in terms of its self-organizing use-case and discuss how each proposed solution performed. In addition, a comparison between the most commonly found ML algorithms in terms of certain SON metrics is performed and general guidelines on when to choose each ML algorithm for each SON function are proposed. Lastly, this work also provides future research directions and new paradigms that the use of more robust and intelligent algorithms, together with data gathered by operators, can bring to the cellular networks domain and fully enable the concept of SON in the near future

Closure properties and complexity of rational sets of regular languages

This work received funding in part by the National Research Network RiSE on Rigorous Systems Engineering (Austrian Science Fund (FWF): S11403-N23), by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) through grant PROSEED, by an Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship (Austrian Science Fund (FWF): J3696-N26), and by the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC grant agreement DIADEM no. 246858

First-Class Functions for First-Order Database Engines

We describe Query Defunctionalization which enables off-the-shelf first-order database engines to process queries over first-class functions. Support for first-class functions is characterized by the ability to treat functions like regular data items that can be constructed at query runtime, passed to or returned from other (higher-order) functions, assigned to variables, and stored in persistent data structures. Query defunctionalization is a non-invasive approach that transforms such function-centric queries into the data-centric operations implemented by common query processors. Experiments with XQuery and PL/SQL database systems demonstrate that first-order database engines can faithfully and efficiently support the expressive "functions as data" paradigm.Comment: Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Database Programming Languages (DBPL 2013), August 30, 2013, Riva del Garda, Trento, Ital