BEval: A Plug-in to Extend Atelier B with Current Verification Technologies

This paper presents BEval, an extension of Atelier B to improve automation in the verification activities in the B method or Event-B. It combines a tool for managing and verifying software projects (Atelier B) and a model checker/animator (ProB) so that the verification conditions generated in the former are evaluated with the latter. In our experiments, the two main verification strategies (manual and automatic) showed significant improvement as ProB's evaluator proves complementary to Atelier B built-in provers. We conducted experiments with the B model of a micro-controller instruction set; several verification conditions, that we were not able to discharge automatically or manually with AtelierB's provers, were automatically verified using BEval.Comment: In Proceedings LAFM 2013, arXiv:1401.056

Parapharyngeal space tumors: considerations in 26 cases

CONTEXT: Parapharyngeal space tumors comprise less than 0.5% of all head and neck neoplasms.1 The majority of these tumors are benign, but surgery is usually required to establish the diagnosis and treat the patients. We present 26 patients treated surgically for tumors arising in the parapharyngeal space (PPS) at the State University of Campinas Hospital UNICAMP.CASES SERIE: Of these, 17 (65.5%) had benign and 9 (34.6%) malignant neoplasms. The surgical and pathological data relevant to these cases are highlighted, observing any local recurrence, surgical complications and the five-year survival. Neurogenic tumors and soft tissue sarcomas were, respectively, the most frequent benign (35.3%) and malignant neoplasms (44.5%). Benign tumors accounted for the majority of the cases and involved minimal surgical morbidity with no recurrence during a median follow-up of five years. Malignant tumors had a high rate of recurrence and mortality. Surgery is the treatment of choice for PPS tumors. A knowledge of the anatomy of this site is essential for the safe performance of surgical procedures. Malignant neoplasms have a poor prognosis. Fine needle aspiration was helpful in diagnosis of all tumors.CONTEXTO: Tumores do espaço parafaríngeo compreendendo menos de 0,5% dos tumores de cabeça e pescoço. A maioria destes são benignos, sendo a cirurgia necessária para tratamento e algumas vezes para diagnóstico dos pacientes. Apresentamos 26 pacientes tratados cirurgicamente no Hospital das Clínicas da UNICAMP por tumores localizados no EPF SÉRIE DE CASOS: A média de idade foi de 53 anos, sendo que dos tumores 17 (65,5%) eram benignos e, 9 (34,6%) malignos. Enfatizaremos as técnicas cirúrgicas e dados anatomopatológicos observando ainda as recidivas e sobrevida. Tumores neurogênicos (35,3%) e sarcomas de partes moles (44,5%) foram os tumores benignos e malignos mais freqüentes. Os tumores benignos apresentaram mínima morbidade cirúrgica e bom prognóstico, inversamente ao ocorrido com os malignos. A cirurgia é o tratamento de escolha para estes tumores, sendo que os malignos apresentaram pior prognóstico. Com exames de imagem, punção aspirativa por agulha fina (PAAF) ou biópsia aberta, obtivemos diagnóstico pré-operatório em todos os casos.343

Meiotic chromosomes and nucleolar behavior in testicular cells of the grassland spittlebugs Deois flavopicta, Mahanarva fimbriolata and Notozulia entreriana (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha)

Spittlebugs annually infest pastures and cause severe damage, representing a serious problem for the tropical American beef cattle industry. Spittlebugs are an important biotic constraint to forage production and there is a lack of cytogenetic data for this group of insects. For these reasons, we conducted this work, in which the spermatogenesis and nucleolar behavior of Deois flavopicta, Mahanarva fimbriolata and Notozulia entreriana were studied. The males possessed testes in the shape of a “bunch of grapes”; a variable number of testicular lobes per individual and polyploid nuclei composed of several heteropycnotic bodies. A heteropycnotic area was located in the periphery of the nucleus (prophase I); the chiasmata were terminal or interstitial; metaphases I were circular or linear and anaphase showed late migration of the sex chromosome. The chromosome complement had 2n = 19, except for N. entreriana (2n = 15); the spermatids were round with heteropycnotic material in the center and elongated with conspicuos chromatin. The analysis of testes after silver nitrate staining showed polyploid nuclei with three large and three smaller nucleolar bodies. Early prophase cells had an intensely stained nucleolar body located close to the chromatin and another less evident body located away from the chromatin. The nucleolar bodies disintegrated during diplotene. Silver staining occurred in two autosomes, in terminal and subterminal locations, the latter probably corresponding to the nucleolus organizer regions (NORs). The spermatids were round with a round nucleolar body and silver staining was observed in the medial and posterior region of the elongated part of the spermatid head