5,769 research outputs found
Avatar: A Time- and Space-Efficient Self-Stabilizing Overlay Network
Overlay networks present an interesting challenge for fault-tolerant
computing. Many overlay networks operate in dynamic environments (e.g. the
Internet), where faults are frequent and widespread, and the number of
processes in a system may be quite large. Recently, self-stabilizing overlay
networks have been presented as a method for managing this complexity.
\emph{Self-stabilizing overlay networks} promise that, starting from any
weakly-connected configuration, a correct overlay network will eventually be
built. To date, this guarantee has come at a cost: nodes may either have high
degree during the algorithm's execution, or the algorithm may take a long time
to reach a legal configuration. In this paper, we present the first
self-stabilizing overlay network algorithm that does not incur this penalty.
Specifically, we (i) present a new locally-checkable overlay network based upon
a binary search tree, and (ii) provide a randomized algorithm for
self-stabilization that terminates in an expected polylogarithmic number of
rounds \emph{and} increases a node's degree by only a polylogarithmic factor in
expectation
Towards agent-based crowd simulation in airports using games technology
We adapt popular video games technology for an agent-based crowd simulation in an airport terminal. To achieve this, we investigate the unique traits of airports and implement a virtual crowd by exploiting a scalable layered intelligence technique in combination with physics middleware and a socialforces approach. Our experiments show that the framework runs at interactive frame-rate and evaluate the scalability with increasing number of agents demonstrating
navigation behaviour
Healthiness from Duality
Healthiness is a good old question in program logics that dates back to
Dijkstra. It asks for an intrinsic characterization of those predicate
transformers which arise as the (backward) interpretation of a certain class of
programs. There are several results known for healthiness conditions: for
deterministic programs, nondeterministic ones, probabilistic ones, etc.
Building upon our previous works on so-called state-and-effect triangles, we
contribute a unified categorical framework for investigating healthiness
conditions. We find the framework to be centered around a dual adjunction
induced by a dualizing object, together with our notion of relative
Eilenberg-Moore algebra playing fundamental roles too. The latter notion seems
interesting in its own right in the context of monads, Lawvere theories and
enriched categories.Comment: 13 pages, Extended version with appendices of a paper accepted to
LICS 201
Can virtual nature improve patient experiences and memories of dental treatment? A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Background Dental anxiety and anxiety-related avoidance of dental care create significant problems for patients and the dental profession. Distraction interventions are used in daily medical practice to help patients cope with unpleasant procedures. There is evidence that exposure to natural scenery is beneficial for patients and that the use of virtual reality (VR) distraction is more effective than other distraction interventions, such as watching television. The main aim of this randomized controlled trial is to determine whether the use of VR during dental treatment can improve the overall dental experience and recollections of treatment for patients, breaking the negative cycle of memories of anxiety leading to further anxiety, and avoidance of future dental appointments. Additionally, the aim is to test whether VR benefits dental patients with all levels of dental anxiety or whether it could be especially beneficial for patients suffering from higher levels of dental anxiety. The third aim is to test whether the content of the VR distraction can make a difference for its effectiveness by comparing two types of virtual environments, a natural environment and an urban environment. Methods/design The effectiveness of VR distraction will be examined in patients 18 years or older who are scheduled to undergo dental treatment for fillings and/or extractions, with a maximum length of 30 minutes. Patients will be randomly allocated into one of three groups. The first group will be exposed to a VR of a natural environment. The second group will be exposed to a VR of an urban environment. A third group consists of patients who receive standard care (control group). Primary outcomes relate to patients’ memories of the dental treatment one week after treatment: (a) remembered pain, (b) intrusive thoughts and (c) vividness of memories. Other measures of interest are the dental experience, the treatment experience and the VR experience. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN4144280
Combined Global and Local Search for the Falsification of Hybrid Systems
In this paper we solve the problem of finding a trajectory that shows that a
given hybrid dynamical system with deterministic evolution leaves a given set
of states considered to be safe. The algorithm combines local with global
search for achieving both efficiency and global convergence. In local search,
it exploits derivatives for efficient computation. Unlike other methods for
falsification of hybrid systems with deterministic evolution, we do not
restrict our search to trajectories of a certain bounded length but search for
error trajectories of arbitrary length
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