Distinguishing experiments for timed nondeterministic finite state machine

The problem of constructing distinguishing experiments is a fundamental problem in the area of finite state machines (FSMs), especially for FSM-based testing. In this paper, the problem is studied for timed nondeterministic FSMs (TFSMs) with output delays. Given two TFSMs, we derive the TFSM intersection of these machines and show that the machines can be distinguished using an appropriate (untimed) FSM abstraction of the TFSM intersection. The FSM abstraction is derived by constructing appropriate partitions for the input and output time domains of the TFSM intersection. Using the obtained abstraction, a traditional FSM-based preset algorithm can be used for deriving a separating sequence for the given TFSMs if these machines are separable. Moreover, as sometimes two non-separable TFSMs can still be distinguished by an adaptive experiment, based on the FSM abstraction we present an algorithm for deriving an r-distinguishing TFSM that represents a corresponding adaptive experiment

Deterministic Timed Finite State Machines: Equivalence Checking and Expressive Power

There has been a growing interest in defining models of automata enriched with time. For instance, timed automata were introduced as automata extended with clocks. In this paper, we study models of timed finite state machines (TFSMs), i.e., FSMs enriched with time, which accept timed input words and generate timed output words. Here we discuss some models of TFSMs with a single clock: TFSMs with timed guards, TFSMs with timeouts, and TFSMs with both timed guards and timeouts. We solve the problem of equivalence checking for all three models, and we compare their expressive power, characterizing subclasses of TFSMs with timed guards and of TFSMs with timeouts that are equivalent to each other.Comment: In Proceedings GandALF 2014, arXiv:1408.556

Slow Tourism: A Possible Solution to Indigenous Communities’ Invisibility in San Cristobal de las Casas

Tourism is Mexico’s second largest service industry and makes up a significant amount of the country’s revenue. Scholars have considered and described the impact of Indigenous exploitation on the tourism industry; however, researchers have generally limited their investigation to the social conflict between Indigenous communities, mestizos, and tourists, instead of providing sustainable solutions to an issue that has worsened with time. Parallelly, even though recent studies have suggested Slow Tourism as a development tool to the economy, their proposal does not consider Indigenous communities as active agents. We report the results of descriptive research design, considered from a transactionalist framework, from which we draw potential steps towards a sustainable and fair industry; this methodology allows accurate description of the Fast Tourism phenomenon. Through field work in non-participant observation and field notes gathered in the span of four weeks, the observation process develops in a three-stage funnel system, manifested in the appendix. This study aims to shift the current international and capitalist touristic models to fit Indigenous communities’ necessities and values through the implementation of Slow Tourism practices

Extent of Commitment of Lebanese Banks to Principles of Governance (An Empirical Study)

The novel inclination towards applying principles of governance in banks constitutes a great challenge to banks around the world, especially in developing countries. It is especially challenging for Lebanese banks to apply principles of governance because its economy is passing through a very delicate period. This paper aims at studying the extent of commitment of Lebanese banks to principles of governance according to Basel Committee. It is of great importance that Lebanese banks should be committed to these principles to be able to face present and future challenges since applying principles of governance enhances trust of investors, shareholders and other related parties in addition to related international organizations which are closely watching the Lebanese economy. The researchers utilized a five-point Likert Style questionnaire which includes 56 items and asked employees of 10 banks operating in Lebanon to respond to them. Among those employees were board members, executives, internal auditors and heads of departments. The research reached some important findings, most importantly that Lebanese banks are totally committed to principles of governance. This enables Lebanese banks to have a positive impact on investors, shareholders and other parties, which might enhance the bank’s competitive position and attract a greater number of investors, depositors and stockholders

Impact of Using Artificial Intelligence Applications on the Accounting and Auditing Profession–An Exploratory Study from the LCPAs’ Perspective

Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is developing very rapidly and is impacting every domain in the world from a simple transformation of humans to simulated human life. AI is the ability of a computer or computer-powered system to process information and produce results the way humans do in learning, solving problems and decision-making. Practitioners of accounting and auditing have taken part in the trend of automation, which would enhance efficacy of their work. This paper aims at determining the impact of artificial intelligence applications on the accounting and auditing profession and the challenges AI is facing from the Lebanese Certified Public Accountants’ (LCPAs) point of view. The researchers used the quantitative method conducting a questionnaire as a tool for the exploratory study, and it was distributed to 350 LCPA’s, of which 337 were retrieved and were valid for testing. The study rendered some important findings, mostly that using AI applications improve the level of reliability of financial data. Using AI applications contributes in finding solutions for complex accounting and auditing process. However, there are some challenges that face implementing AI application

K-branching UIO sequences for partially specified observable non-deterministic FSMs

In black-box testing, test sequences may be constructed from systems modelled as deterministic finite-state machines (DFSMs) or, more generally, observable non-deterministic finite state machines (ONFSMs). Test sequences usually contain state identification sequences, with unique input output sequences (UIOs) often being used with DFSMs. This paper extends the notion of UIOs to ONFSMs. One challenge is that, as a result of non-determinism, the application of an input sequence can lead to exponentially many expected output sequences. To address this scalability problem, we introduce K-UIOs: K-UIOs that lead to at most K output sequences from states of M. We show that checking K-UIO existence is PSPACE-Complete if the problem is suitably bounded; otherwise it is in EXPSPACE and PSPACE-Hard. We provide a massively parallel algorithm for constructing K-UIOs and the results of experiments on randomly generated and real FSM specifications. The proposed algorithm was able to construct UIOs in cases where the existing UIO generation algorithm could not and was able to construct UIOs from FSMs with 38K states and 400K transitions