3,529 research outputs found
Word-level Symbolic Trajectory Evaluation
Symbolic trajectory evaluation (STE) is a model checking technique that has
been successfully used to verify industrial designs. Existing implementations
of STE, however, reason at the level of bits, allowing signals to take values
in {0, 1, X}. This limits the amount of abstraction that can be achieved, and
presents inherent limitations to scaling. The main contribution of this paper
is to show how much more abstract lattices can be derived automatically from
RTL descriptions, and how a model checker for the general theory of STE
instantiated with such abstract lattices can be implemented in practice. This
gives us the first practical word-level STE engine, called STEWord. Experiments
on a set of designs similar to those used in industry show that STEWord scales
better than word-level BMC and also bit-level STE.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, full version of paper in International
Conference on Computer-Aided Verification (CAV) 201
Formal hardware verification of digital circuits
The use of formal methods to verify the correctness of digital circuits is less constrained by the growing complexity of digital circuits than conventional methods based on exhaustive simulation. This paper briefly outlines three main approaches to formal hardware verification: symbolic simulation, state machine analysis, and theorem-proving
Sensitive Detection and Early Prognostic Significance of p24 Antigen in Heat-Denatured Plasma of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Infants
Immune complex formation causes underdetection of p24 antigen in human immunodeficiencyvirus(HIV)infection.Brieflyboilingdilutedplasma releasesallcomplexedantigen, which can then be measured by some commercial assays. In a retrospective pediatric cohort study, the specificity of this procedure in 390 uninfected samples was 96.9% after initial testing and 100% after neutralization. Sensitivity among 125 postnatal infected samples was, at a detection of 2 pg/ml., 96.0% (97% neutralizable) compared with 47.7% for regular antigen (76% neutralizable), 96% for polymerase chain reaction, and 77% for viral culture. The high sensitivity and specificity of heat-denatured antigen was confirmed by prospectively testing 113 additional samples.Quantitativeanalysisofsamplesfrominfectedinfants showedlowlevelsofp24 antigen in 29% of cord blood sera, a postnatal increase to levels that were during the first 6 months of life inversely associated with survival, and persistence of antigenemia thereafter independent of clinical status. Prevalence and antigen levels were significantly lower in mothers. The persistent antigenemia in children indicates that their immune systems cannot restrict HIV expression as efficiently as those of adult
The self and others in the experience of pride
Pride is seen as both a self-conscious emotion as well as a social emotion. These categories are not mutually exclusive, but have brought forth different ideas about pride as either revolving around the self or as revolving around one’s relationship with others. Current measures of pride do not include intrapersonal elements of pride experiences. Social comparisons, which often cause experiences of pride, contain three elements: the self, the relationship between the self and another person, and the other person. From the literature on pride, we distilled three related elements; perceptions and feelings of self-inflation, other-distancing, and other-devaluation. In four studies, we explored whether these elements were present in pride experiences. We did so at an implicit (Experiment 1; N = 218) and explicit level (Experiment 2; N = 125), in an academic setting with in vivo (Experiment 3; N = 203) and imagined pride experiences (Experiment 4; N = 126). The data consistently revealed that the experience of pride is characterised by self-inflation, not by other-distancing nor other-devaluation
Cellular and ultrastructural characterization of the grey-morph phenotype in southern right whales (Eubalaena australis)
Southern right whales (SRWs, Eubalena australis) are polymorphic for an X-linked pigmentation pattern known as grey morphism. Most SRWs have completely black skin with white patches on their bellies and occasionally on their backs; these patches remain white as the whale ages. Grey morphs (previously referred to as partial albinos) appear mostly white at birth, with a splattering of rounded black marks; but as the whales age, the white skin gradually changes to a brownish grey color. The cellular and developmental bases of grey morphism are not understood. Here we describe cellular and ultrastructural features of grey-morph skin in relation to that of normal, wild-type skin. Melanocytes were identified histologically and counted, and melanosomes were measured using transmission electron microscopy. Grey-morph skin had fewer melanocytes when compared to wild-type skin, suggesting reduced melanocyte survival, migration, or proliferation in these whales. Grey-morph melanocytes had smaller melanosomes relative to wild-type skin, normal transport of melanosomes to surrounding keratinocytes, and normal localization of melanin granules above the keratinocyte nuclei. These findings indicate that SRW grey-morph pigmentation patterns are caused by reduced numbers of melanocytes in the skin, as well as by reduced amounts of melanin production and/or reduced sizes of mature melanosomes. Grey morphism is distinct from piebaldism and albinism found in other species, which are genetic pigmentation conditions resulting from the local absence of melanocytes, or the inability to synthesize melanin, respectively
Specific emotions as mediators of the effect of intergroup contact on prejudice: findings across multiple participant and target groups
Emotions are increasingly being recognised as important aspects of prejudice and intergroup behaviour. Specifically, emotional mediators play a key role in the process by which intergroup contact reduces prejudice towards outgroups. However, which particular emotions are most important for prejudice reduction, as well as the consistency and generality of emotion–prejudice relations across different in-group–out-group relations, remain uncertain. To address these issues, in Study 1 we examined six distinct positive and negative emotions as mediators of the contact–prejudice relations using representative samples of U.S. White, Black, and Asian American respondents (N = 639). Admiration and anger (but not other emotions) were significant mediators of the effects of previous contact on prejudice, consistently across different perceiver and target ethnic groups. Study 2 examined the same relations with student participants and gay men as the out-group. Admiration and disgust mediated the effect of past contact on attitude. The findings confirm that not only negative emotions (anger or disgust, based on the specific types of threat perceived to be posed by an out-group), but also positive, status- and esteem-related emotions (admiration) mediate effects of contact on prejudice, robustly across several different respondent and target groups
Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in the hard scattering regime at RHIC
Azimuthal anisotropy () and two-particle angular correlations of high
charged hadrons have been measured in Au+Au collisions at
=130 GeV for transverse momenta up to 6 GeV/c, where hard
processes are expected to contribute significantly. The two-particle angular
correlations exhibit elliptic flow and a structure suggestive of fragmentation
of high partons. The monotonic rise of for GeV/c is
consistent with collective hydrodynamical flow calculations. At \pT>3 GeV/c a
saturation of is observed which persists up to GeV/c.Comment: As publishe
Elliptic flow from two- and four-particle correlations in Au + Au collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}} = 130 GeV
Elliptic flow holds much promise for studying the early-time thermalization
attained in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions. Flow measurements also
provide a means of distinguishing between hydrodynamic models and calculations
which approach the low density (dilute gas) limit. Among the effects that can
complicate the interpretation of elliptic flow measurements are azimuthal
correlations that are unrelated to the reaction plane (non-flow correlations).
Using data for Au + Au collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}} = 130 GeV from the STAR TPC,
it is found that four-particle correlation analyses can reliably separate flow
and non-flow correlation signals. The latter account for on average about 15%
of the observed second-harmonic azimuthal correlation, with the largest
relative contribution for the most peripheral and the most central collisions.
The results are also corrected for the effect of flow variations within
centrality bins. This effect is negligible for all but the most central bin,
where the correction to the elliptic flow is about a factor of two. A simple
new method for two-particle flow analysis based on scalar products is
described. An analysis based on the distribution of the magnitude of the flow
vector is also described.Comment: minor text change
Disappearance of back-to-back high hadron correlations in central Au+Au collisions at = 200 GeV
Azimuthal correlations for large transverse momentum charged hadrons have
been measured over a wide pseudo-rapidity range and full azimuth in Au+Au and
p+p collisions at = 200 GeV. The small-angle correlations
observed in p+p collisions and at all centralities of Au+Au collisions are
characteristic of hard-scattering processes already observed in elementary
collisions. A strong back-to-back correlation exists for p+p and peripheral Au
+ Au. In contrast, the back-to-back correlations are reduced considerably in
the most central Au+Au collisions, indicating substantial interaction as the
hard-scattered partons or their fragmentation products traverse the medium.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
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