ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICT

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Modeling Algorithms in SystemC and ACL2

We describe the formal language MASC, based on a subset of SystemC and intended for modeling algorithms to be implemented in hardware. By means of a special-purpose parser, an algorithm coded in SystemC is converted to a MASC model for the purpose of documentation, which in turn is translated to ACL2 for formal verification. The parser also generates a SystemC variant that is suitable as input to a high-level synthesis tool. As an illustration of this methodology, we describe a proof of correctness of a simple 32-bit radix-4 multiplier.Comment: In Proceedings ACL2 2014, arXiv:1406.123

'Too Good to be True? Race, Class, Massacre and the Bryce v Rusden Libel Case'

Though little remembered now, the 1886 Bryce v Rusden libel case was a significant legal collision, bringing to a head half a century of antagonism between those who approved of colonization and those who deplored its effects on indigenous peoples. The defendant in the case, George Rusden, lost, and was forced to pay enormous damages. Why, when his evidence was shaky, did Rusden publish his libels? And why did he make little attempt to correct or apologize for them when he discovered they were largely inaccurate? The answers lie in part in Rusden’s Australian background, and the complicated nexus of race, class and massacre that characterizes colonial history

Bringing up the Bodies: Governor Grey’s Bone Collecting

The contributions of Sir George Grey to disciplines as varied as botany, biology, ethnography and linguistics have contributed to his reputation as a humane, liberal-minded imperial functionary. In this context, it is relevant to bring up the contributions which Grey made to anthropology in the shape of the skulls, skeletons and mummified bodies of indigenous peoples that he sent back to scientists in Britain for analysis and display. This article considers what Grey did and why—as far as it is possible to ascertain—he did it. It also suggests that class as well as racial considerations informed Grey’s actions. Finally, the article assesses the significance of Grey’s bone collecting to the emerging science of anthropology

The impact of the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet on cognition in healthy adults

Objectives: Research suggests that a reduction in calories may impact cognitive functioning in healthy adults. Despite studies that demonstrate changes to cognitive function following periods of fasting and continuous calorie restriction, any potential impact for those who follow intermittent fasting (IF) diets remains unclear. Among the most popular IF diet is the 5:2 fasting diet. Proponents of this dieting regime claims that it has numerous benefits to general health. Less in known about the impact of this diet on cognition. Given that some studies have shown cognition is impaired following acute fasting, concerns remain about the impact of a fasting diet that encourages high levels of intermittent calorie restriction. This study sought to understand the impact on specific areas of cognition for healthy adults who follow the 5:2 diet. Methods: Part A Using a within-subjects repeated measures design, 36 healthy adults who were following the 5:2 diet for more than four weeks were measured for cognitive performance on fasting and non-fasting days using a range of online cognitive tasks. Specifically, we measured cognitive flexibility, working and prospective memory, reflective impulsivity and psycho-motor speed. Part B Using a between-subjects design, mean performance on the cognitive tasks for healthy adults following the 5:2 diet (n=36), was compared to those following CCR diets (n=30). Both groups had been following their diets for more than four weeks. Results: Part A Cognitive flexibility, working and prospective memory was impaired on fasting days along with a reduction in impulsivity. Overall composite scores revealed impaired reaction time and accuracy on fasting days. Part B Participants following the 5:2 diet performed worse than those following CCR diets in tasks designed to measure psycho-motor speed and cognitive. Overall composite scores revealed impaired reaction time for those following 5:2 diets, compared with those following CCR diets. Conclusions Research that investigates the impact of calorie restriction and fasting on cognitive function should also consider the potential risks of cognitive impairment for those who choose to follow intermittent fasting diets. Future studies would benefit from longer term measurement of cognition for those following IF diets whilst accounting for potential confounding variables

Bringing up the Bodies: Governor Grey’s Bone Collecting

The contributions of Sir George Grey to disciplines as varied as botany, biology, ethnography and linguistics have contributed to his reputation as a humane, liberal-minded imperial functionary. In this context, it is relevant to bring up the contributions which Grey made to anthropology in the shape of the skulls, skeletons and mummified bodies of indigenous peoples that he sent back to scientists in Britain for analysis and display. This article considers what Grey did and why—as far as it is possible to ascertain—he did it. It also suggests that class as well as racial considerations informed Grey’s actions. Finally, the article assesses the significance of Grey’s bone collecting to the emerging science of anthropology

Learning Concise Models from Long Execution Traces

Abstract models of system-level behaviour have applications in design exploration, analysis, testing and verification. We describe a new algorithm for automatically extracting useful models, as automata, from execution traces of a HW/SW system driven by software exercising a use-case of interest. Our algorithm leverages modern program synthesis techniques to generate predicates on automaton edges, succinctly describing system behaviour. It employs trace segmentation to tackle complexity for long traces. We learn concise models capturing transaction-level, system-wide behaviour--experimentally demonstrating the approach using traces from a variety of sources, including the x86 QEMU virtual platform and the Real-Time Linux kernel

Theorem Proving in Intel Hardware Design

For the past decade, a framework combining model checking (symbolic trajectory evaluation) and higher-order logic theorem proving has been in production use at Intel. Our tools and methodology have been used to formally verify execution cluster functionality (including floating-point operations) for a number of Intel products, including the Pentium(Registered TradeMark)4 and Core(TradeMark)i7 processors. Hardware verification in 2009 is much more challenging than it was in 1999 - today s CPU chip designs contain many processor cores and significant firmware content. This talk will attempt to distill the lessons learned over the past ten years, discuss how they apply to today s problems, outline some future directions