Quantitative and Approximate Monitoring

In runtime verification, a monitor watches a trace of a system and, if possible, decides after observing each finite prefix whether or not the unknown infinite trace satisfies a given specification. We generalize the theory of runtime verification to monitors that attempt to estimate numerical values of quantitative trace properties (instead of attempting to conclude boolean values of trace specifications), such as maximal or average response time along a trace. Quantitative monitors are approximate: with every finite prefix, they can improve their estimate of the infinite trace's unknown property value. Consequently, quantitative monitors can be compared with regard to a precision-cost trade-off: better approximations of the property value require more monitor resources, such as states (in the case of finite-state monitors) or registers, and additional resources yield better approximations. We introduce a formal framework for quantitative and approximate monitoring, show how it conservatively generalizes the classical boolean setting for monitoring, and give several precision-cost trade-offs for monitors. For example, we prove that there are quantitative properties for which every additional register improves monitoring precision.Comment: To appear in LICS 2021; corrected a referenc

Pengaruh Metode Group To Group Exchange Berbantuan Media Gambar terhadap Hasil Belajar Kognitif Siswa pada Materi Ekosistem

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh metode group to group exchange berbantuan media gambar terhadap hasil belajar kognitif siswa pada materi ekosistem di kelas VII Sekolah Menengah Pertama Negeri 4 Sekadau Hilir. Variabel bebas dalam penelitian ini adalah metode group to group exchange dengan media gambar dan variabel terikat adalah hasil belajar kognitif. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian adalah kuantitatif. Metode yang diterapkan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode Eksperimen. Bentuk penelitian adalah penelitian Quasi Experimental Design. Desain penelitian yang digunakan adalah Nonequivalent Control GroupDesign. Populasi dalam penelitian adalah seluruh siswa kelas VII SMP Negeri 4 Sekadau Hilir yang berjumlah 57 siswa. Sampel dalam penelitian ini kelas VII A sebagai kelas eksperimen dengan jumlah 28 siswa dan kelas VII B sebagai kelas kontrol dengan jumlah 29 siswa. Teknik sampling yang digunakan adalah Sampling Jenuh. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah teknik observasi langsung, teknik pengukuran, dan teknik komunikasi tidak langsung. Alat pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah lembar observasi, soal tes, dan angket. Data yang diperoleh menunjukan proses pembelajaran berlangsung dengan persentase 100%. Nilai hasil belajar kognitif diperoleh nilai rata-rata pretest pada kelas eksperimen 40,80 dan kontrol 39,52. Uji U Mann Whitney data pretest menunjukan –Ztabal-1,96) maka Ha diterima. Hasil angket menunjukan kriteria kuat 85,92%. Disimpulkan bahwa terdapat pengaruh yang signifikan penggunaan metode group to group exchange berbantuan media gambar terhadap hasil belajar kognitif siswa pada materi ekosistem di kelas VII Sekolah Menengah Pertama Negeri 4 Sekadau Hilir

On surface wave fields arising in soil-structure interaction problems

Abstract The paper aims at generalization of the specialized formulation, originally developed for the surface wave fields induced by prescribed surface stresses. We extend this formulation to soil-structure interaction problems with unknown contact stresses and internal sources. The problem for an internal source embedded in an elastic half-plane is reduced to that for prescribed surface stresses by considering the point source solution for an unbounded medium. In this case the sub-problems corresponding to normal and tangential stresses assume a separate treatment. Then, we analyze interaction of an elastic half-plane with a one degree of freedom mass-spring system. The focus is on a near-resonant regime investigated by a perturbation technique

Safety and Liveness of Quantitative Automata

The safety-liveness dichotomy is a fundamental concept in formal languages which plays a key role in verification. Recently, this dichotomy has been lifted to quantitative properties, which are arbitrary functions from infinite words to partially-ordered domains. We look into harnessing the dichotomy for the specific classes of quantitative properties expressed by quantitative automata. These automata contain finitely many states and rational-valued transition weights, and their common value functions Inf, Sup, LimInf, LimSup, LimInfAvg, LimSupAvg, and DSum map infinite words into the totally-ordered domain of real numbers. In this automata-theoretic setting, we establish a connection between quantitative safety and topological continuity and provide an alternative characterization of quantitative safety and liveness in terms of their boolean counterparts. For all common value functions, we show how the safety closure of a quantitative automaton can be constructed in PTime, and we provide PSpace-complete checks of whether a given quantitative automaton is safe or live, with the exception of LimInfAvg and LimSupAvg automata, for which the safety check is in ExpSpace. Moreover, for deterministic Sup, LimInf, and LimSup automata, we give PTime decompositions into safe and live automata. These decompositions enable the separation of techniques for safety and liveness verification for quantitative specifications.Comment: Full version of the paper to appear in CONCUR 202

Simulation of a Silicon CVD Spouted Fluidized Bed Reactor: Semi-Batch Operations

A comprehensive multiphase gas-solid mathematical model that successfully describes the batch growth of silicon particles in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) submerged spouted bed reactor is extended to simulate semi-batch operations with periodic seeds additions and product extractions. This model takes into account the fluidized bed reactor as well as a population balance equation representing particle growth and agglomeration. Experimental data obtained from semi-batch operation in a pilot scale reactor at REC Silicon Inc. are used to evaluate the proposed mathematical model

Using the R Package Spatstat to Assess Inhibitory Effects of Microregional Hypoxia on the Infiltration of Cancers of the Head and Neck Region by Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes

(1) Background: The immune system has physiological antitumor activity, which is partially mediated by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Tumor hypoxia, which is highly prevalent in cancers of the head and neck region, has been hypothesized to inhibit the infiltration of tumors by CTL. In situ data validating this concept have so far been based solely upon the visual assessment of the distribution of CTL. Here, we have established a set of spatial statistical tools to address this problem mathematically and tested their performance. (2) Patients and Methods: We have analyzed regions of interest (ROI) of 22 specimens of cancers of the head and neck region after 4-plex immunofluorescence staining and whole-slide scanning. Single cell-based segmentation was carried out in QuPath. Specimens were analyzed with the endpoints clustering and interactions between CTL, normoxic, and hypoxic tumor areas, both visually and using spatial statistical tools implemented in the R package Spatstat. (3) Results: Visual assessment suggested clustering of CTL in all instances. The visual analysis also suggested an inhibitory effect between hypoxic tumor areas and CTL in a minority of the whole-slide scans (9 of 22, 41%). Conversely, the objective mathematical analysis in Spatstat demonstrated statistically significant inhibitory interactions between hypoxia and CTL accumulation in a substantially higher number of specimens (16 of 22, 73%). It showed a similar trend in all but one of the remaining samples. (4) Conclusion: Our findings provide non-obvious but statistically rigorous evidence of inhibition of CTL infiltration into hypoxic tumor subregions of cancers of the head and neck. Importantly, these shielded sites may be the origin of tumor recurrences. We provide the methodology for the transfer of our statistical approach to similar questions. We discuss why versions of the Kcross and pcf.cross functions may be the methods of choice among the repertoire of statistical tests in Spatstat for this type of analysis

Reply to Comments on Effect of heating rate on kinetic parameters of beta-irradiated Li2B4O7:Cu,Ag,P in TSL measurements

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to comments regarding the paper published by Ege et al (2007 Effect of heating rate on kinetic parameters of beta-irradiated Li2B4O7: Cu, Ag, P in TSL measurements Meas. Sci. Technol. 18 889). We would like to thank the authors for taking the time to tell us about their opinion, but unfortunately we do not agree with them completely. In the article presented by Kumar and Chourasiya some comment is advanced to the analysis of the glow curves measured with different heating rates, presented in our recent study. According to our study, the area under the glow curve decreases with increasing heating rate in TL-temperature plots due to the quenching effects. Contrary to this, Kumar and Chourasiya suggest that this decrease is due to the normalization process. Here we hope to clarify any confusion regarding our published study

Egypt’s 2011–2012 parliamentary elections: Voting for religious vs. secular democracy?

This study investigates whether individuals’ attitudes towards democracy and secular politics have any influence on voting behavior in Egypt. Based on data from a survey conducted immediately after the Egyptian parliamentary elections in January 2012, this study finds that Egyptians’ attitudes towards democratic governance were quite negative around the parliamentary elections, yet Egyptians still endorsed democracy as the ideal political system for their country. However, empirical findings suggest that support for democracy has a limited impact on electoral results. On the other hand, the main division in Egyptian society around the first free and fair parliamentary elections was the religious-secular cleavage. As people support secular politics more, they become significantly less likely to vote for Islamist parties. These results illustrate that preferences in regard to the type of democracy – either a liberal and secular or a religious democracy – were the main determinant of the historic 2012 elections in Egypt