Isabelle/PIDE as Platform for Educational Tools

The Isabelle/PIDE platform addresses the question whether proof assistants of the LCF family are suitable as technological basis for educational tools. The traditionally strong logical foundations of systems like HOL, Coq, or Isabelle have so far been counter-balanced by somewhat inaccessible interaction via the TTY (or minor variations like the well-known Proof General / Emacs interface). Thus the fundamental question of math education tools with fully-formal background theories has often been answered negatively due to accidental weaknesses of existing proof engines. The idea of "PIDE" (which means "Prover IDE") is to integrate existing provers like Isabelle into a larger environment, that facilitates access by end-users and other tools. We use Scala to expose the proof engine in ML to the JVM world, where many user-interfaces, editor frameworks, and educational tools already exist. This shall ultimately lead to combined mathematical assistants, where the logical engine is in the background, without obstructing the view on applications of formal methods, formalized mathematics, and math education in particular.Comment: In Proceedings THedu'11, arXiv:1202.453

BioDiVinE: A Framework for Parallel Analysis of Biological Models

In this paper a novel tool BioDiVinEfor parallel analysis of biological models is presented. The tool allows analysis of biological models specified in terms of a set of chemical reactions. Chemical reactions are transformed into a system of multi-affine differential equations. BioDiVinE employs techniques for finite discrete abstraction of the continuous state space. At that level, parallel analysis algorithms based on model checking are provided. In the paper, the key tool features are described and their application is demonstrated by means of a case study

Measurement of the properties of the Ξb∗ 0 baryon

We perform a search for near-threshold Ξb0 resonances decaying to Ξb−π+ in a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb−1 collected by the LHCb experiment. We observe one resonant state, with the following properties: mΞb∗0−mΞb−−mπ+=15.727±0.068stat±0.023systMeV/c2ΓΞb∗0=0.90±0.16stat±0.08systMeV.This confirms the previous observation by the CMS collaboration. The state is consistent with the JP = 3/2+ Ξb∗ 0 resonance expected in the quark model. This is the most precise determination of the mass and the first measurement of the natural width of this state. We have also measured the ratio σpp→Ξb∗0XℬΞb∗0→Ξb−π+σpp→Ξb−X=0.28±0.03stat.±0.01syst.

Viral Hepatitis C Therapy: Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Considerations: A 2019 Update

Contains fulltext : 208854.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)It has been estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) that over 71 million people were infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 2015. Since then, a number of highly effective direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimens have been licensed for the treatment of chronic HCV infection: sofosbuvir/daclatasvir, sofosbuvir/ledipasvir, elbasvir/grazoprevir, sofosbuvir/velpatasvir, glecaprevir/pibrentasvir, and sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir. With these treatment regimens, almost all chronic HCV-infected patients, even including prior DAA failures, can be treated effectively and safely. It is therefore likely that further development of DAAs will be limited. In this descriptive review we provide an overview of the clinical pharmacokinetic characteristics of currently available DAAs by describing their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. Potential drug-drug interactions with the DAAs are briefly discussed. Furthermore, we summarize what is known about the pharmacodynamics of the DAAs in terms of efficacy and safety. We briefly discuss the relationship between the pharmacokinetics of the DAAs and efficacy or toxicity in special populations, such as hard to cure patients and patients with liver cirrhosis, liver transplantation, renal impairment, hepatitis B virus or HIV co-infection, bleeding disorders, and children. The aim of this overview is to educate/update prescribers and pharmacists so that they are able to safely and effectively treat HCV-infected patients even in the presence of underlying co-infections or co-morbidities