Synthesis of an integrated cockpit management system

The process used in the synthesis of an integrated cockpit management system was discussed. Areas covered included flight displays, subsystem management, checklists, and procedures (both normal and emergency). The process of evolving from the unintegrated conventional system to the integrated system is examined and a brief description of the results presented

Protocol-based verification of message-passing parallel programs

© 2015 ACM.We present ParTypes, a type-based methodology for the verification of Message Passing Interface (MPI) programs written in the C programming language. The aim is to statically verify programs against protocol specifications, enforcing properties such as fidelity and absence of deadlocks. We develop a protocol language based on a dependent type system for message-passing parallel programs, which includes various communication operators, such as point-to-point messages, broadcast, reduce, array scatter and gather. For the verification of a program against a given protocol, the protocol is first translated into a representation read by VCC, a software verifier for C. We successfully verified several MPI programs in a running time that is independent of the number of processes or other input parameters. This contrasts with alternative techniques, notably model checking and runtime verification, that suffer from the state-explosion problem or that otherwise depend on parameters to the program itself. We experimentally evaluated our approach against state-of-the-art tools for MPI to conclude that our approach offers a scalable solution

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 274)

This bibliography lists 128 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in July 1985

Robotic and Sensor Technologies for Mobility in Older People

Maintaining independent mobility is fundamental to independent living and to the quality of life of older people. Robotic and sensor technologies may offer a lot of potential and can make a significant difference in the lives of older people and to their primary caregivers. The aim of this study was to provide a presentation of the methods that are used up till now for analysis and evaluation of human mobility utilizing sensor technologies and to give the state of the art in robotic platforms for supporting older people with mobility limitations. The literature was reviewed and systematic reviews of cohort studies and other authoritative reports were identified. The selection criteria included (1) patients with age â\u89¥60 years; (2) patients with unstable gait, with or without recurrent falls; (3) patients with slow movements, short strides, and little trunk movement; (4) sensor technologies that are currently used for mobility evaluation; and (5) robotic technologies that can serve as a supporting companion for older people with mobility limitations. One hundred eighty-one studies published up until February 2017 were identified, of which 36 were included. Two categories of research were identified from the review regarding the robot and sensor technologies: (1) sensor technologies for mobility analysis and (2) robots for supporting older people with mobility limitations. Potential for robotic and sensor technologies can be taken advantage of for evaluation and support at home for elder persons with mobility limitations in an automated way without the need of the physical presence of any medical personnel, reducing the stress of caregivers

Phase resetting reveals network dynamics underlying a bacterial cell cycle

Genomic and proteomic methods yield networks of biological regulatory interactions but do not provide direct insight into how those interactions are organized into functional modules, or how information flows from one module to another. In this work we introduce an approach that provides this complementary information and apply it to the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus, a paradigm for cell-cycle control. Operationally, we use an inducible promoter to express the essential transcriptional regulatory gene ctrA in a periodic, pulsed fashion. This chemical perturbation causes the population of cells to divide synchronously, and we use the resulting advance or delay of the division times of single cells to construct a phase resetting curve. We find that delay is strongly favored over advance. This finding is surprising since it does not follow from the temporal expression profile of CtrA and, in turn, simulations of existing network models. We propose a phenomenological model that suggests that the cell-cycle network comprises two distinct functional modules that oscillate autonomously and couple in a highly asymmetric fashion. These features collectively provide a new mechanism for tight temporal control of the cell cycle in C. crescentus. We discuss how the procedure can serve as the basis for a general approach for probing network dynamics, which we term chemical perturbation spectroscopy (CPS)

Mechanizing the metatheory of rewire

The [lambda]-calculus provides a simple, well-established framework for research in functional programming languages that readily lends itself to the use offormal methods--that is, the use of mathematically sound techniques and supporting tools--to describe and verify properties of programming languages, as well. This is no coincidence. After all, the [lambda]-calculus formalizes the concept of effective computability, for all computable functions are definable in the untyped [lambda]-calculus, making it expressively equivalent torecursive functions. In software, the expressiveness of functional languages is considereda strength. Functional approaches to language design, however, needn't be limited to soft-ware. In hardware, the expressiveness of functional languages becomes a major obstacle to successful hardware synthesis, for the reason that such languages are usually capable of expressing general recursion. The presence of general recursion makes it possible to generate expressions that run forever, never producing a well-defined value. In this dissertation, we study two novel variants of the simply typed [lambda]-calculus, representing fragments of functional hardware description languages. The first variant extends the type system, using natural numbers representing time. This addition, though simple, is non-trivial. We prove that this calculus possesses bounded variants of type-safety and strong normalization. That is to say, we show that all well-typed expressions evaluate to values within a bound determined by the natural number index of their corresponding types. The second variant is a computational [lambda]-calculus that formalizes the core fragment of the hardware description language known as ReWire. We prove that the language has type-safety and is strongly normalizing -- the proof of strong normalizationis the first mechanized proof of its kind. We define an equational theory with respect to this language. This allows us to prove that the language has desirable security properties by construction. This work supports a full-edged, formal methodology for producing high assurance hardware.Includes bibliographical reference

A theoretical and empirical investigation of the multitude of dual career experiences in sport

This thesis sought to explore and examine the multitude of dual career experiences in sport, (i.e., the experience of combining a sporting career with an educational or vocational career). The research focus upon dual careers in sport derived from several research approaches within sport psychology including: the transitions literature (e.g., Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004; Wylleman, Reints, & De Knop, 2013), the holistic athlete perspective literature (e.g., Henriksen, Stambulova, & Roessler, 2010; Wylleman et al., 2013), and the athletic retirement literature (see Knights, Sherry, & Ruddock-Hudson, 2016). The research approaches highlighted the importance of considering an athlete’s life outside of sport and/or their preparation for life after sport. This led to an increased interest in the ability of athletes to pursue an education or vocation alongside their sporting endeavours and the impact these activities have on factors such as, sporting performance, academic performance, well-being and ability to cope with transition and/or adversity. One aim of this thesis was to provide a fundamental contribution to the research field by comprehensively reviewing and synthesising the evidence which addresses the factors that facilitate positive experiences of managing a sporting career alongside an education or vocation. The results outline factors that have been identified as impacting the experience of a dual career, such as: the academic environment, sporting environment, personal resources, and social support. The thesis was then guided by the gaps in the research knowledge that were highlighted by the review. One area that was identified to be of interest for further research was the spectrum of dual career experiences that are presented in the literature and the lack of theoretical conceptualization which explain the development of these different experiences. For example, on the one hand, previous research identified a variety of positive experiences from pursuing a dual career (e.g., Aquilina, 2013; Lavallee & Robinson, 2007; Miller & Kerr, 2002; Murphy, Petitpas, & Brewer, 1996; Pink, Saunders, & Stynes, 2015). However, the negative experiences of pursuing two career goals have also been extensively reported (e.g., Cosh & Tully, 2014; Knight, Harwood, & Sellars, 2018; Singer, 2008; Ryan, 2015; Ryba, Stambulova, Ronkainen, Bundgaard, & Selänne, 2015; Tekavc, Wylleman, & Cecić Erpič, 2015). The thesis then employs a method that has, thus far, not been used in this research area and further explores these contrasting experiences via a grounded theory analysis (chapter 4) which integrates inductive interview data with previous research (e.g., Aunola, Selänne, Selänne, & Ryba, 2018; Chamorro, Torregrosa, Sánchez Oliva, García Calvo, & León, 2016; Ryba, Stambulova, Selänne, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2017; Stambulova, Engström, Franck, Linnér, & Lindahl, 2015). The findings present experiences of dual careers as categorised into one of three pathways: the parallel dual career pathway, the sporting pathway and, the educational/vocational pathway. All three pathways exhibit varying outcomes, benefits, and detriments, which are outlined as: the educational gap, vocational skills gap, and the sporting gap. This chapter also outlines a suggested process for the development of these pathways, dual career development mechanism, which incorporates identity, motivation, and self-efficacy. The research contributes to the understanding of dual career athletes as a heterogenous group, as opposed to a homogeneous group. However, this research advances the current understanding by viewing the experiences from a developmental standpoint and presenting a theory of the whole dual career lifespan. The findings presented in the grounded theory development led to the hypothesis that individuals in each pathway would exhibit different patterns of athletic identity, career identity, and self-efficacy. For example, (a) individuals in the parallel dual career pathway are hypothesised to exhibit a balanced career identity, career self-efficacy, athletic identity, and athletic self-efficacy’ (b) individuals in the sporting pathway are predicted to show a higher athletic identity and athletic self-efficacy than a career identity and career self-efficacy; and (c) individuals in the educational/vocational pathway are predicted to show a higher career identity and career self-efficacy than athletic identity and athletic self-efficacy. The categorisation of dual career individuals and the suggested relationship between sporting development and career development according to the pathways presented in chapter 4 are then further explored and supported via the results of a principle component analysis and cluster analysis (chapter 5). The results upheld the hypothesis by identifying three heterogeneous groups based on their scores on identity and self-efficacy measures. The inclusion of retired dual career athletes provided us with two further groups identified as representing individuals who were further along the three pathways. Previous research has conducted similar methods with elite youth or school-aged athletes (e.g., Aunola et al., 2018; Chamorro et al., 2016) but focused on measure of motivation to categorise individuals. This research, therefore, makes a novel contribution through, confirming the hypothesis of athletic identity, student identity, and self-esteem as factors that impact dual career experiences. These findings conclude that dual career support systems and practitioners must consider the type of dual career pathway which best suits the individual in question and take steps to prepare the individual for the associated gaps of each pathway.</div

Neuromorphic-Based Neuroprostheses for Brain Rewiring: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives in Neuroengineering.

Neuroprostheses are neuroengineering devices that have an interface with the nervous system and supplement or substitute functionality in people with disabilities. In the collective imagination, neuroprostheses are mostly used to restore sensory or motor capabilities, but in recent years, new devices directly acting at the brain level have been proposed. In order to design the next-generation of neuroprosthetic devices for brain repair, we foresee the increasing exploitation of closed-loop systems enabled with neuromorphic elements due to their intrinsic energy efficiency, their capability to perform real-time data processing, and of mimicking neurobiological computation for an improved synergy between the technological and biological counterparts. In this manuscript, after providing definitions of key concepts, we reviewed the first exploitation of a real-time hardware neuromorphic prosthesis to restore the bidirectional communication between two neuronal populations in vitro. Starting from that 'case-study', we provide perspectives on the technological improvements for real-time interfacing and processing of neural signals and their potential usage for novel in vitro and in vivo experimental designs. The development of innovative neuroprosthetics for translational purposes is also presented and discussed. In our understanding, the pursuit of neuromorphic-based closed-loop neuroprostheses may spur the development of novel powerful technologies, such as 'brain-prostheses', capable of rewiring and/or substituting the injured nervous system