Timed Refinement for Verification of Real-Time Object Code Programs

Real-time systems such as medical devices, surgical robots, and microprocessors are safety- critical applications that have hard timing constraint. The correctness of real-time systems is important as the failure may result in severe consequences such as loss of money, time and human life. These real-time systems have software to control their behavior. Typically, these software have source code which is converted to object code and then executed in safety-critical embedded devices. Therefore, it is important to ensure that both source code and object code are error-free. When dealing with safety-critical systems, formal verification techniques have laid the foundation for ensuring software correctness. Refinement based technique in formal verification can be used for the verification of real- time interrupt-driven object code. This dissertation presents an automated tool that verifies the functional and timing correctness of real-time interrupt-driven object code programs. The tool has been developed in three stages. In the first stage, a novel timed refinement procedure that checks for timing properties has been developed and applied on six case studies. The required model and an abstraction technique were generated manually. The results indicate that the proposed abstraction technique reduces the size of the implementation model by at least four orders of magnitude. In the second stage, the proposed abstraction technique has been automated. This technique has been applied to thirty different case studies. The results indicate that the automated abstraction technique can easily reduce the model size, which would in turn significantly reduce the verification time. In the final stage, two new automated algorithms are proposed which would check the functional properties through safety and liveness. These algorithms were applied to the same thirty case studies. The results indicate that the functional verification can be performed in less than a second for the reduced model. The benefits of automating the verification process for real-time interrupt-driven object code include: 1) the overall size of the implementation model has reduced significantly; 2) the verification is within a reasonable time; 3) can be applied multiple times in the system development process.Several parts of this dissertation was funded by a grant from the United States Government and the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Pakistan ? U.S. Science & Technology Cooperation Program. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Government

Timed Refinement for Verification of Real-Time Object Code Programs

Real-time systems such as medical devices, surgical robots, and microprocessors are safety- critical applications that have hard timing constraint. The correctness of real-time systems is important as the failure may result in severe consequences such as loss of money, time and human life. These real-time systems have software to control their behavior. Typically, these software have source code which is converted to object code and then executed in safety-critical embedded devices. Therefore, it is important to ensure that both source code and object code are error-free. When dealing with safety-critical systems, formal verification techniques have laid the foundation for ensuring software correctness. Refinement based technique in formal verification can be used for the verification of real- time interrupt-driven object code. This dissertation presents an automated tool that verifies the functional and timing correctness of real-time interrupt-driven object code programs. The tool has been developed in three stages. In the first stage, a novel timed refinement procedure that checks for timing properties has been developed and applied on six case studies. The required model and an abstraction technique were generated manually. The results indicate that the proposed abstraction technique reduces the size of the implementation model by at least four orders of magnitude. In the second stage, the proposed abstraction technique has been automated. This technique has been applied to thirty different case studies. The results indicate that the automated abstraction technique can easily reduce the model size, which would in turn significantly reduce the verification time. In the final stage, two new automated algorithms are proposed which would check the functional properties through safety and liveness. These algorithms were applied to the same thirty case studies. The results indicate that the functional verification can be performed in less than a second for the reduced model. The benefits of automating the verification process for real-time interrupt-driven object code include: 1) the overall size of the implementation model has reduced significantly; 2) the verification is within a reasonable time; 3) can be applied multiple times in the system development process.Several parts of this dissertation was funded by a grant from the United States Government and the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Pakistan ? U.S. Science & Technology Cooperation Program. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Government

A STUDY ON INDIA’S BILATERAL TRADE WITH JAPAN

Purpose of the study: India and Japan share strong cultural and economic ties. The economic relationship between the two Asian giants strengthened with the signing of the CECA agreement during the year 2011. The current research would focus on assessing the bilateral trade relations between both the countries and attempts to identify the commodity trade potential to enhance the future trade between them. Methodology: The study is based on secondary sources of data collected through the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, WTO, IMF, RBI, and the Japanese Trade Databases. The annual data for the period 2005 to the year 2016 has been used to analyse the Intensity Indices and the Gravity Coefficient values between India and Japan. Similarly, the annual data from the year 2008 to 2015 is used to calculate the RCA and RID index values and finally, the average RCA and RID (2008-2016) are used for analysis to identify the commodity trade potential between both the countries. Main Findings: The study concludes that the trade share of Japan in India’s overall trade has been falling significantly over the years which could be seen through the declining Export Intensity and Import Intensity Indices of India with Japan. However, the overall analysis presents that 28 commodities were feasible for trade between India and Japan from the 56 commodities computed for the study which exhibits a strong potential for enhancing future bilateral trade relations between both the countries. Applications of this study: India had made a strategic move with its Look East Policy during the year 1991 to accelerate its trade relations with the East Asian countries and later with its success the same was transformed into Act East Policy during the year 2014. The current study would prove to be useful in shaping the policy changes in this direction. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study focuses on the bilateral trade relations between the two important Asian giants, India, and Japan during the post comprehensive economic cooperation agreement between the two. Further, the study identifies the areas of commodity trade potential which paves the direction for new trade between the countries to tap the untapped trade potential. &nbsp

Robust Brain Tissue Segmentation in AD Using Comparative Linear Transformation and Deep Learning

As a progressive neurological disease, Alzheimer's disease (AD), if no preventative measures are   taken, can result in dementia and a severe decline in brain function, making it difficult to perform basic tasks. Over 1 in 9 people suffer from dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease and require uncompensated care. The hippocampus is extracted from MRI scans of the brain via image segmentation have been useful for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease (AD).The segmentation of the CSF region in brain MRI is critical for analyzing the stages of AD. The extraction of Hippocampus from an MRI of the brain is greatly influenced by the contrast of the images. Using comparative linear transformation in the horizontal and vertical dimensions as well as statistical edge-based features, this article proposes a robust method for segmentation technique for the extraction of Hippocampus from brain MRI. These transformations aid in balancing the brain image's thin and dense fluid extractions. Through use of the ADNI dataset, the proposed approach had a 99% success rate in segmentation

Role of Self Help Groups in Enhancement of Livelihoods of fishermen – A case study of Kakinada Harbour of Andhra Pradesh

Women constitute approximately half of the India's population and play a vital role in building our Nation. Women play a crucial role in Marine fisheries and aquaculture, specifically in the small-scale and artisanal fisheries sector. It is estimated that there are about 5.4 million people fully engaged in fisheries activities, out of which, 3.90 million are fishermen and 1.50 million are fisherwomen. The livelihoods of fishermen are often marked by economic uncertainty, vulnerability to natural factors, and exploitation by middlemen. However, concerted efforts have been made to enhance their living conditions and promote sustainable fishing practices. The primary data is collected from sample of 200 Self Help Groups fisherwomen in the Kakinada harbour of Andhra Pradesh. In the study area 83 per cent are of the sample respondents are living in pucca houses. 47.5 percent of the respondents joined in SHG to avail loan by becoming the member. 50.5 per cent of total respondents belong to 21-40 age group. 33 per cent of the respondents are having primary education, 17.5 per cent are having secondary education and 7 per cent are having higher education. 18 per cent of the sample respondents are spent their SHG loan amount on purchase of home appliances & gold, and 16.5 per cent respondents are spent on children’s education. The perception of the respondents on the impact of SHGs shows that there is a positive correlation between years of membership and impact of SHG in improvement of livelihoods of fishermen

A study on development of ear ossicles from prenatal to postnatal life of humans

Background: Malleus, incus and stapes are the three ear ossicles present in middle ear. The auditory ossicles of the middle ear have a fundamental role in transmission of sound. The aim of this study was to determine development of ear ossicles from prenatal to postnatal life which will be of great help for an ENT surgeon who should be well conversant with the anatomical details of middle ear prior to undertake reconstruction procedures for the improvement of sound conduction in conductive deafness.Methods: The study was conducted in 25 foetuses and 25 adult ossicles after removal from temporal bones of embalmed cadavers. Vernier caliperse was used to measure different morphometric parameters to study growth and development of ossicles.Results: Malleus: The average length of Malleus varies from 4 to 7.24mm in foetuses and adults respectively. The length of the anterior process was variable and some of the processes were quite long. Incus: The incus had minimum morphological variations in the ossicles. Its length ranges from 4.97-6.94mm. Stapes: The stapes had maximum morphological variations in the ossicles. The variations of stapes were in the neck, the cruses and the foot plate. The variations seen in stapes were no neck, a short or a long neck. The cruses of the stapes had symmetry or asymmetry. Length varies from 2.45-3.8mm.Conclusions: Ossicles at 20 weeks of prenatal life were cartilagenous, and at 24 weeks they were ossified and surrounded by mesenchyme. Postnatal changes were minimal. These parameters of Ossicles will help in designing of implants and treating hearing loss

Comparison of surgically induced astigmatism in corneo-scleral and clear corneal incision in phacoemulsification

Background: The objective of the study was to determine and compare the surgically induced astigmatism in patients who have undergone phacoemulsification with clear corneal and corneoscleral incisions made superiorly and temporally.Methods: Study was conducted in 100 patients who underwent cataract surgery from a period of November 2012 to July 2014. They were evaluated pre and post-operatively. Pre-op and Post-op Vision, retinoscopy and keratometry were analysed and surgically induced astigmatism was calculated using Vector method.Results: Surgically induced astigmatism calculated with SIA Calculator using Holladay’s method was as follows; Superior corneoscleral 0.79 D,  Temporal corneoscleral  0.52 D, Superior clear corneal 0.60 D, Temporal clear corneal 0.73 D. A higher incidence of against the rule astigmatism was seen pre-operatively (45%) and post-operatively (42%).Conclusions: From our study, we have concluded that no significant difference was seen in the surgically induced astigmatism following phacoemulsification in all four incisions though the least SIA value was obtained with Temporal corneo-scleral. To conclude, temporal corneo-scleral incisions being farther away from the visual axis has minimal effect on the corneal curvature with near astigmatic neutrality. 

Accomplishment of Quasi Z Source Inverter towards Power Maintenance for PV

Semi Z Source Inverter (QZSI) an improvement to Z Source Inverter (ZSI). The benefits of QZSI can be recorded as lower segment appraisals, decreases exchanging ripples, reduced segment tally and rearranged control techniques. They can track the PhotoVoltaic (PV) panel most extreme power, control the inverter yield power and deal with the battery power. In a solitary stage inverter operation the voltage boosting, modifying and energy stockpiling are coordinated. From the PV panel, QZSI draws a consistent current. It controls the PV panel yield power to augment energy generation. EMI issues and source stretch are reduced, contrasted with the ZSI. QZSI is reasonable, when actualized with the Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) control strategies for photovoltaic power age frameworks and could turn out to be profoundly effective.

Anatomical study on sciatic nerve variations in Andhra Pradesh, India

Background: The sciatic nerve is the largest and widest nerve in the body and is derived from ventral rami of spinal nerves L2 to S3. Sciatic nerve appears in the Gluteal region below Piriformis from Pelvic cavity by passing through Greater Sciatic foramen. In between the Ischial tuberosity and greater trochanter of Femur, it reaches the back of the thigh. At the superior angle of Popliteal fossa, it divides into Tibial and common Peroneal (fibular) nerves. The division varies, and it may occur within the pelvis, Gluteal, upper, mid and lower part of thigh. The anatomical variations of the level at which the Sciatic nerve divides is considered important by Neurosurgeons, Anaesthetists, Orthopaedicians and Surgeons.Methods: This study was conducted on 52 lower limbs to determine the level of sciatic nerve bifurcation and its variations on 26 embalmed human cadavers. The data was analyzed manually using numbers, frequencies and percentages.Results: The findings of this study states that in 2 limbs (3.84%) the nerve divided in the gluteal region; in 4 limbs (7.69%) in the pelvic region; in 10 limbs (19.23%) at the junction between upper and middle thigh. The highest incidence of division occurs in 36 limbs (69.23%) at the superior angle of the popliteal fossa.Conclusions: The findings of this study revealed that the majority of sciatic nerve divisions occur   at the superior angle of popliteal fossa while some divided into other regions such as Pelvis, Gluteal and thigh regions