BlenX-based compositional modeling of complex reaction mechanisms

Molecular interactions are wired in a fascinating way resulting in complex behavior of biological systems. Theoretical modeling provides a useful framework for understanding the dynamics and the function of such networks. The complexity of the biological networks calls for conceptual tools that manage the combinatorial explosion of the set of possible interactions. A suitable conceptual tool to attack complexity is compositionality, already successfully used in the process algebra field to model computer systems. We rely on the BlenX programming language, originated by the beta-binders process calculus, to specify and simulate high-level descriptions of biological circuits. The Gillespie's stochastic framework of BlenX requires the decomposition of phenomenological functions into basic elementary reactions. Systematic unpacking of complex reaction mechanisms into BlenX templates is shown in this study. The estimation/derivation of missing parameters and the challenges emerging from compositional model building in stochastic process algebras are discussed. A biological example on circadian clock is presented as a case study of BlenX compositionality

An Empirical Investigation of the Level of Users’ Acceptance of E-Banking in Nigeria

Nigeria was depicted to be the fastest growing telecommunications nation in African. Presently, all members of the Nigeria banking industry have engaged the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a platform for effective and efficient means of conducting financial transactions. This paper focuses on determining the level of users’ acceptance of the electronic banking services and investigating the factors that determine users’ behavioral intentions to use electronic banking systems in Nigeria. The survey instrument employed involved design and administration of a total of 500 survey questionnaires within the Lagos metropolis and its environs. An extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was employed as a conceptual framework to investigate the factors that influence users’ acceptance and intention to use electronic banking. To test the model, data was collected from 292 customers from various commercial banks in Nigeria. The model measured the impact of Perceived Credibility (PC), Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE), Perceived Usefulness (PU), and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) on customer attitude and customer attitude on customer adaptation. The result of this research shows that ATM still remains the most widely used form e-Banking service. Banks’ customers who are active users of e-Banking system use it because it is convenient, easy to use, time saving and appropriate for their transaction needs. Also the network security and the security of the system in terms of privacy are the major concerns of the users and constitute hindrance to intending users

Index to Library Trends Volume 38

published or submitted for publicatio

An Instantiation-Based Approach for Solving Quantified Linear Arithmetic

This paper presents a framework to derive instantiation-based decision procedures for satisfiability of quantified formulas in first-order theories, including its correctness, implementation, and evaluation. Using this framework we derive decision procedures for linear real arithmetic (LRA) and linear integer arithmetic (LIA) formulas with one quantifier alternation. Our procedure can be integrated into the solving architecture used by typical SMT solvers. Experimental results on standardized benchmarks from model checking, static analysis, and synthesis show that our implementation of the procedure in the SMT solver CVC4 outperforms existing tools for quantified linear arithmetic

Can a computer be "pushed" to perform faster-than-light?

We propose to "boost" the speed of communication and computation by immersing the computing environment into a medium whose index of refraction is smaller than one, thereby trespassing the speed-of-light barrier.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, presented at the UC10 Hypercomputation Workshop "HyperNet 10" at The University of Tokyo on June 22, 201

Trends in Russian research output indexed in Scopus and Web of Science

Trends are analysed in the annual number of documents published by Russian institutions and indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, giving special attention to the time period starting in the year 2013 in which the Project 5-100 was launched by the Russian Government. Numbers are broken down by document type, publication language, type of source, research discipline, country and source. It is concluded that Russian publication counts strongly depend upon the database used, and upon changes in database coverage, and that one should be cautious when using indicators derived from WoS, and especially from Scopus, as tools in the measurement of research performance and international orientation of the Russian science system.Comment: Author copy of a manuscript accepted for publication in the journal Scientometrics, May 201

Towards MKM in the Large: Modular Representation and Scalable Software Architecture

MKM has been defined as the quest for technologies to manage mathematical knowledge. MKM "in the small" is well-studied, so the real problem is to scale up to large, highly interconnected corpora: "MKM in the large". We contend that advances in two areas are needed to reach this goal. We need representation languages that support incremental processing of all primitive MKM operations, and we need software architectures and implementations that implement these operations scalably on large knowledge bases. We present instances of both in this paper: the MMT framework for modular theory-graphs that integrates meta-logical foundations, which forms the base of the next OMDoc version; and TNTBase, a versioned storage system for XML-based document formats. TNTBase becomes an MMT database by instantiating it with special MKM operations for MMT.Comment: To appear in The 9th International Conference on Mathematical Knowledge Management: MKM 201