Formal change impact analyses for emulated control software

Processor emulators are a software tool for allowing legacy computer programs to be executed on a modern processor. In the past emulators have been used in trivial applications such as maintenance of video games. Now, however, processor emulation is being applied to safety-critical control systems, including military avionics. These applications demand utmost guarantees of correctness, but no verification techniques exist for proving that an emulated system preserves the original system’s functional and timing properties. Here we show how this can be done by combining concepts previously used for reasoning about real-time program compilation, coupled with an understanding of the new and old software architectures. In particular, we show how both the old and new systems can be given a common semantics, thus allowing their behaviours to be compared directly

Representational predicaments for employees: Their impact on perceptions of supervisors\u27 individualized consideration and on employee job satisfaction

A representational predicament for a subordinate vis-à-vis his or her immediate superior involves perceptual incongruence with the superior about the subordinate\u27s work or work context, with unfavourable implications for the employee. An instrument to measure the incidence of two types of representational predicament, being neglected and negative slanting, was developed and then validated through an initial survey of 327 employees. A subsequent substantive survey with a fresh sample of 330 employees largely supported a conceptual model linking being neglected and negative slanting to perceptions of low individualized consideration by superiors and to low overall job satisfaction. The respondents in both surveys were all Hong Kong Chinese. Two case examples drawn from qualitative interviews illustrate and support the conceptual model. Based on the research findings, we recommend some practical exercises to use in training interventions with leaders and subordinates. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Mapping and characterization of structural variation in 17,795 human genomes

A key goal of whole-genome sequencing for studies of human genetics is to interrogate all forms of variation, including single-nucleotide variants, small insertion or deletion (indel) variants and structural variants. However, tools and resources for the study of structural variants have lagged behind those for smaller variants. Here we used a scalable pipeline1 to map and characterize structural variants in 17,795 deeply sequenced human genomes. We publicly release site-frequency data to create the largest, to our knowledge, whole-genome-sequencing-based structural variant resource so far. On average, individuals carry 2.9 rare structural variants that alter coding regions; these variants affect the dosage or structure of 4.2 genes and account for 4.0–11.2% of rare high-impact coding alleles. Using a computational model, we estimate that structural variants account for 17.2% of rare alleles genome-wide, with predicted deleterious effects that are equivalent to loss-of-function coding alleles; approximately 90% of such structural variants are noncoding deletions (mean 19.1 per genome). We report 158,991 ultra-rare structural variants and show that 2% of individuals carry ultra-rare megabase-scale structural variants, nearly half of which are balanced or complex rearrangements. Finally, we infer the dosage sensitivity of genes and noncoding elements, and reveal trends that relate to element class and conservation. This work will help to guide the analysis and interpretation of structural variants in the era of whole-genome sequencing

Installation of a Devonian Shale Reservoir Testing Facility and acquisition of reservoir property measurements

In October, a contract was awarded for the Installation of a Devonian Shale Reservoir Testing Facility and Acquisition of Reservoir Property measurements from wells in the Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basins. Geologic and engineering data collected through this project will provide a better understanding of the mechanisms and conditions controlling shale gas production. This report summarizes the results obtained from the various testing procedures used at each wellsite and the activities conducted at the Reservoir Testing Facility

A novel geotechnical/geostatistical approach for exploration and production of natural gas from multiple geologic strata, Phase 1

This research program has been designed to develop and verify a unique geostatistical approach for finding natural gas resources. The research has been conducted by Beckley College, Inc. (Beckley) and BDM Engineering Services Company (BDMESC) under contract to the US Department of Energy (DOE), Morgantown Energy Technology Center. Phase 1 of the project consisted of compiling and analyzing relevant geological and gas production information in selected areas of Raleigh County, West Virginia, ultimately narrowed to the Eccles, West Virginia, 7 {1/2} minute Quadrangle. The Phase 1 analysis identified key parameters contributing to the accumulation and production of natural gas in Raleigh County, developed analog models relating geological factors to gas production, and identified specific sites to test and verify the analysis methodologies by drilling. Based on the Phase 1 analysis, five sites have been identified with high potential for economic gas production. Phase 2 will consist of drilling, completing, and producing one or more wells at the sites identified in the Phase 1 analyses. The initial well is schedules to the drilled in April 1991. This report summarizes the results of the Phase 1 investigations. For clarity, the report has been prepared in two volumes. Volume 1 presents the Phase 1 overview; Volume 2 contains the detailed geological and production information collected and analyzed for this study

Trying similarity, doing difference: The role of interviewer self-disclosure in interview talk with young people.

Advocates of semi-structured interview techniques have often argued that rapport may be built, and power inequalities between interviewer and respondent counteracted, by strategic self-disclosure on the part of the interviewer. Strategies that use self-disclosure to construct similarity between interviewer and respondent rely on the presumption that the respondent will in fact interpret the interviewer's behaviour in this way. In this article we examine the role of interviewer self-disclosure using data drawn from three projects involving interviews with young people. We consider how an interviewer's attempts to ‘do similarity’ may be interpreted variously as displays of similarity or, ironically, as indicators of difference by the participant, and map the implications that this may have for subsequent interview dialogue. A particular object of concern relates to the ways in which self-disclosing acts may function in the negotiation of category entitlement within interview interactions