Using Taint Analysis and Reinforcement Learning (TARL) to Repair Autonomous Robot Software

It is important to be able to establish formal performance bounds for autonomous systems. However, formal verification techniques require a model of the environment in which the system operates; a challenge for autonomous systems, especially those expected to operate over longer timescales. This paper describes work in progress to automate the monitor and repair of ROS-based autonomous robot software written for an a-priori partially known and possibly incorrect environment model. A taint analysis method is used to automatically extract the data-flow sequence from input topic to publish topic, and instrument that code. A unique reinforcement learning approximation of MDP utility is calculated, an empirical and non-invasive characterization of the inherent objectives of the software designers. By comparing off-line (a-priori) utility with on-line (deployed system) utility, we show, using a small but real ROS example, that it's possible to monitor a performance criterion and relate violations of the criterion to parts of the software. The software is then patched using automated software repair techniques and evaluated against the original off-line utility.Comment: IEEE Workshop on Assured IEEE Workshop on Assured Autonomous Systems, May, 202

High-Precision Entropy Values for Spanning Trees in Lattices

Shrock and Wu have given numerical values for the exponential growth rate of the number of spanning trees in Euclidean lattices. We give a new technique for numerical evaluation that gives much more precise values, together with rigorous bounds on the accuracy. In particular, the new values resolve one of their questions.Comment: 7 pages. Revision mentions alternative approach. Title changed slightly. 2nd revision corrects first displayed equatio

Standard Model Top Quark Asymmetry at the Fermilab Tevatron

Top quark pair production at proton-antiproton colliders is known to exhibit a forward-backward asymmetry due to higher-order QCD effects. We explore how this asymmetry might be studied at the Fermilab Tevatron, including how the asymmetry depends on the kinematics of extra hard partons. We consider results for top quark pair events with one and two additional hard jets. We further note that a similar asymmetry, correlated with the presence of jets, arises in specific models for parton showers in Monte Carlo simulations. We conclude that the measurement of this asymmetry at the Tevatron will be challenging, but important both for our understanding of QCD and for our efforts to model it.Comment: 26 p., 10 embedded figs., comment added, version to appear in PR

A 233 km Tunnel for Lepton and Hadron Colliders

A decade ago, a cost analysis was conducted to bore a 233 km circumference Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC) tunnel passing through Fermilab. Here we outline implementations of $e^+e^-$, $p \bar{p}$, and $\mu^+ \mu^-$ collider rings in this tunnel using recent technological innovations. The 240 and 500 GeV $e^+e^-$ colliders employ Crab Waist Crossings, ultra low emittance damped bunches, short vertical IP focal lengths, superconducting RF, and low coercivity, grain oriented silicon steel/concrete dipoles. Some details are also provided for a high luminosity 240 GeV $e^+ e^-$ collider and 1.75 TeV muon accelerator in a Fermilab site filler tunnel. The 40 TeV $p \bar{p}$ collider uses the high intensity Fermilab $\bar{p}$ source, exploits high cross sections for $p \bar{p}$ production of high mass states, and uses 2 Tesla ultra low carbon steel/YBCO superconducting magnets run with liquid neon. The 35 TeV muon ring ramps the 2 Tesla superconducting magnets at 9 Hz every 0.4 seconds, uses 250 GV of superconducting RF to accelerate muons from 1.75 to 17.5 TeV in 63 orbits with 71% survival, and mitigates neutrino radiation with phase shifting, roller coaster motion in a FODO lattice.Comment: LaTex, 6 pages, 1 figure, Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop, Austin, TX, 10-15 June 201

Towards high quality text entry on smartwatches

Smartwatches now provide users with access to many applications on smartphones direct from their wrists, without the need to touch their smartphone. While applications such as email, messaging, calendar and social networking provide views on the watch, there is normally no text entry method so users cannot reply on the same device. Here we introduce requirements for smartwatch text entry, an optimised alphabetic layout and present a prototype implementation together with preliminary user feedback. While raising some problems, the feedback gives indicates that reasonable quality and speed is achievable on a smartwatch and encourages our future work

Flows driven by Banach space-valued rough paths

We show in this note how the machinery of C^1-approximate flows devised in the work "Flows driven by rough paths", and applied there to reprove and extend most of the results on Banach space-valued rough differential equations driven by a finite dimensional rough path, can be used to deal with rough differential equations driven by an infinite dimensional Banach space-valued weak geometric Holder p-rough paths, for any p>2, giving back Lyons' theory in its full force in a simple way.Comment: 8 page

Localization Transition of Biased Random Walks on Random Networks

We study random walks on large random graphs that are biased towards a randomly chosen but fixed target node. We show that a critical bias strength b_c exists such that most walks find the target within a finite time when b>b_c. For b<b_c, a finite fraction of walks drifts off to infinity before hitting the target. The phase transition at b=b_c is second order, but finite size behavior is complex and does not obey the usual finite size scaling ansatz. By extending rigorous results for biased walks on Galton-Watson trees, we give the exact analytical value for b_c and verify it by large scale simulations.Comment: 4 pages, includes 4 figure

A Bioengineered Nisin Derivative to Control Biofilms of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius

peer-reviewedAntibiotic resistance and the shortage of novel antimicrobials are among the biggest challenges facing society. One of the major factors contributing to resistance is the use of frontline clinical antibiotics in veterinary practice. In order to properly manage dwindling antibiotic resources, we must identify antimicrobials that are specifically targeted to veterinary applications. Nisin is a member of the lantibiotic family of antimicrobial peptides that exhibit potent antibacterial activity against many gram-positive bacteria, including human and animal pathogens such as Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Listeria, and Clostridium. Although not currently used in human medicine, nisin is already employed commercially as an anti-mastitis product in the veterinary field. Recently we have used bioengineering strategies to enhance the activity of nisin against several high profile targets, including multi-drug resistant clinical pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and also against staphylococci and streptococci associated with bovine mastitis. However, newly emerging pathogens such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) pose a significant threat in terms of veterinary health and as a reservoir for antibiotic resistance determinants. In this study we created a nisin derivative with enhanced antimicrobial activity against S. pseudintermedius. In addition, the novel nisin derivative exhibits an enhanced ability to impair biofilm formation and to reduce the density of established biofilms. The activities of this peptide represent a significant improvement over that of the wild-type nisin peptide and merit further investigation with a view to their use to treat S. pseudintermedius infections.This work was supported by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, through Science Foundation Ireland Investigator awards (10/IN.1/B3027 (http://www.sfi.ie). DF would like to acknowledge receipt of a Society for Applied Microbiology (http://www.sfam.org.uk) Students into Work Grant for FL