22,931 research outputs found
On the engineering of crucial software
The various aspects of the conventional software development cycle are examined. This cycle was the basis of the augmented approach contained in the original grant proposal. This cycle was found inadequate for crucial software development, and the justification for this opinion is presented. Several possible enhancements to the conventional software cycle are discussed. Software fault tolerance, a possible enhancement of major importance, is discussed separately. Formal verification using mathematical proof is considered. Automatic programming is a radical alternative to the conventional cycle and is discussed. Recommendations for a comprehensive approach are presented, and various experiments which could be conducted in AIRLAB are described
A "Cellular Neuronal" Approach to Optimization Problems
The Hopfield-Tank (1985) recurrent neural network architecture for the
Traveling Salesman Problem is generalized to a fully interconnected "cellular"
neural network of regular oscillators. Tours are defined by synchronization
patterns, allowing the simultaneous representation of all cyclic permutations
of a given tour. The network converges to local optima some of which correspond
to shortest-distance tours, as can be shown analytically in a stationary phase
approximation. Simulated annealing is required for global optimization, but the
stochastic element might be replaced by chaotic intermittency in a further
generalization of the architecture to a network of chaotic oscillators.Comment: -2nd revised version submitted to Chaos (original version submitted
6/07
From Black Strings to Black Holes
Using recently developed numerical methods, we examine neutral compactified
non-uniform black strings which connect to the Gregory-Laflamme critical point.
By studying the geometry of the horizon we give evidence that this branch of
solutions may connect to the black hole solutions, as conjectured by Kol. We
find the geometry of the topology changing solution is likely to be nakedly
singular at the point where the horizon radius is zero. We show that these
solutions can all be expressed in the coordinate system discussed by Harmark
and Obers.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, RevTe
The implementation and use of Ada on distributed systems with high reliability requirements
The use and implementation of Ada in distributed environments in which reliability is the primary concern were investigated. In particular, the concept that a distributed system may be programmed entirely in Ada so that the individual tasks of the system are unconcerned with which processors they are executing on, and that failures may occur in the software or underlying hardware was examined. Progress is discussed for the following areas: continued development and testing of the fault-tolerant Ada testbed; development of suggested changes to Ada so that it might more easily cope with the failure of interest; and design of new approaches to fault-tolerant software in real-time systems, and integration of these ideas into Ada
Bayesian evidence for two companions orbiting HIP 5158
We present results of a Bayesian analysis of radial velocity (RV) data for
the star HIP 5158, confirming the presence of two companions and also
constraining their orbital parameters. Assuming Keplerian orbits, the
two-companion model is found to be e^{48} times more probable than the
one-planet model, although the orbital parameters of the second companion are
only weakly constrained. The derived orbital periods are 345.6 +/- 2.0 d and
9017.8 +/- 3180.7 d respectively, and the corresponding eccentricities are 0.54
+/- 0.04 and 0.14 +/- 0.10. The limits on planetary mass (m \sin i) and
semimajor axis are (1.44 +/- 0.14 M_{J}, 0.89 +/- 0.01 AU) and (15.04 +/- 10.55
M_{J}, 7.70 +/- 1.88 AU) respectively. Owing to large uncertainty on the mass
of the second companion, we are unable to determine whether it is a planet or a
brown dwarf. The remaining `noise' (stellar jitter) unaccounted for by the
model is 2.28 +/- 0.31 m/s. We also analysed a three-companion model, but found
it to be e^{8} times less probable than the two-companion model.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables. Added a couple of figures showing the
residuals after one and two companion fits. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
Letter
Fate of the Black String Instability
Gregory and Laflamme showed that certain nonextremal black strings (and
p-branes) are unstable to linearized perturbations. It is widely believed that
this instability will cause the black string horizon to classically pinch off
and then quantum mechanically separate, resulting in higher dimensional black
holes. We argue that this cannot happen. Under very mild assumptions, classical
event horizons cannot pinch off. Instead, they settle down to new static black
string solutions which are not translationally invariant along the string.Comment: 11 pages, v2: few clarifications and references adde
The Influence of Formulation, Buffering, pH and Divalent Cations on the Activity of Endothall on Hydrilla.
Endothall has been used as an aquatic herbicide for more
than 40 years and provides very effective weed control of
many weeds. Early research regarding the mechanism-of-action
of endothall contradicts the symptomology normally associated
with the product. Recent studies suggest endothall
is a respiratory toxin but the mechanism-of-action remains
unknown. To further elucidate the activity of endothall, several
endothall formulations were evaluated for their effects
on ion leakage, oxygen consumption and photosynthetic oxygen
evolution from hydrilla shoot tips. The influence of pH,
buffering and divalent cations was also evaluated. (PDF contains 6 pages.
Defining the gap between research and practice in public relations programme evaluation - towards a new research agenda
The current situation in public relations programme evaluation is neatly summarized by McCoy who commented that 'probably the most common buzzwords in public relations in the last ten years have been evaluation and accountability' (McCoy 2005, 3). This paper examines the academic and practitioner-based literature and research on programme evaluation and it detects different priorities and approaches that may partly explain why the debate on acceptable and agreed evaluation methods continues. It analyses those differences and proposes a research agenda to bridge the gap and move the debate forward
Evaluation of a novel rodenticide: acute sub- lethal effects of a methaemoglobin-inducing agent
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