Translate One, Analyze Many: Leveraging the Microsoft Intermediate Language and Source Code Transformation for Model Checking

AbstractIn this paper we present a source transformation-based framework to support model checking of source code written with languages belonging to Microsoft's .NET platform. The framework includes a set of source transformation rules to guide the transformation, tools to support assertion checking, as well as a tool for the automation of deadlock detection. The framework results in both executable and formally verifiable artifacts. We provide details of the tools in the framework, and evaluate the framework on a few small case studies

An overview of experimental autogenous vein grafts

Examination of the changes in experimental autogenous vein grafts has presented some important results for both human surgical grafts and also for atherosclerosis. We have developed a microsurgical grafting model in the rat, by anastomosing 4 mm of the iliolumbar vein into the iliac artery. The primary cellular response involves the proliferation and migration of endothelium and smooth muscle cells from the adjacent artery. The majority of this activity is complete within the first 4 weeks after grafting. This development of the new cells in the vein graft is described as intimal (or neointimal) hyperplasia. The revascularization by the vasa vasorum and the reestablishment of sympathetic reinnervation of the graft have both been quantitated in detail. In addition, we are now examining factors that influence the intimal hyperplastic response, specifically nicotine, cholesterol and high blood pressure. These factors, as well as being of clinical importance, also give an indication of the pathogenesis of intimal hyperplasia. In this article we briefly review the work that we have completed over the last 15 years and its relevance to the experimental and clinical research literature on intimal hyperplasia.Biomedical Reviews 1992; 1: 25-32

An overview of the regeneration of skeletal muscle

It has only recently been acknowledged widely that mature skeletal muscle has the ability to regenerate, although reports on this phenomenon have existed in the research literature some 40 years. The regenerative events in skeletal muscle include: phagocytosis of cellular and connective tissue debris; revascularization of the lesion; the proliferation of myogenic precursor cells; their differentiation into myoblasts; myoblasts fusion into myotubes; followed by the reestablishment of the nerve supply, and the maturation of myotubes into muscle fibers. The key cell in skeletal muscle regeneration is the satellite cell, which is a reserve myogenic cell situated in between the muscle fiber sarcolemma and its adjacent external lamina. These cells can only by identified by electron microscopy, which makes them very difficult to investigate in detail or quantitatively. However, there is a substantial body of research literature on satellite cells and relevant aspects of their activity are summarized in this review. Satellite cells provide the source of myogenic precursor cells in the regeneration of skeletal muscle, therefore, any factor which stimulates the proliferative activity of satellite cells is very important in enhancing skeletal muscle regeneration. The cellular events in regenerating skeletal muscle closely resemble those which occur in the process of developmental myogenesis, and references to these similarities and differences are briefly reviewed.Biomedical Reviews 1996; 6: 75-81

Bacteriological investigations of urinary infections

1. A quantitative stroke-plate method for bacterial counting was developed which compared closely with the more time-consuming pour-plate method. A comparison with a quantitative leucocyte counting method showed good correlation between significant bacteriuria and pyuria. Gram-film methods for assessing the levels of bacteriuria and pyuria were found to correlate well with the quantitative methods, and the inaccuracy of the routine wet-film estimation was clearly shown. 2. Biochemical typing of the isolates from different bacterial count levels revealed that the Escherichia coli was the most frequently isolated species from patients with significant bacteriuria. It was shown that the presence of urinary tract abnormality decisively altered the frequency of the species isolated. 3. Serological grouping, with twelve specific antisera, was used to investigate the strains of Escherichia coli. Nearly two-thirds of the strains isolated form patients with symptomatic, significant bacteriuria were grouped serologically. No significant difference could be demonstrated in the frequency of the serological groups of the strains from high and low bacterial count specimens. 4. The haemolytic reaction of the Escherichia coli strans was predominantly associated with the serological groups: '01', '04', '06', '018' and '075', which accounted for more than ninety per cent of the haemolytic strains. There was no statistical difference shown in the frequency of the serological groups, or of the haemolytic reaction, in the strains isolated from males and females. 5. A method for colicine typing was developed which classified more than seventy per cent of the strains. There was no significant difference noted in the frequency of total colicinicity of the strains from the high and low bacterial count specimens, an increased frequency of one colicine sensitivity pattern was noted in the low count specimens. The colicine extraction method revealed that different media could affect both the production and diffusion of colicine. 7. The lack of significant difference in the frequencies of the serological groups and the colicinogenic patterns, between the strains from the high and low bacterial count specimens, was suggested as indicating that the infecting strain originates in the lower urinary tract. 8. The evidence of the typing markers, used to investigate the strains of Escherichia coli isolated from the recurrent infections, indicated that recurrence is due to reinfection by a new strain, in the majority of instances. Comparisons between the recurrences of patients with and without urinary tract abnormalities did not reveal any significant differences in the frequencies of recurrences, the time intervals or the change of strains

Local Geometry of Multiattribute Tradeoff Preferences

PhD thesisExisting preference reasoning systems have been successful insimple domains. Broader success requires more natural and moreexpressive preference representations. This thesis develops arepresentation of logical preferences that combines numericaltradeoff ratios between partial outcome descriptions withqualitative preference information. We argue our system is uniqueamong preference reasoning systems; previous work has focused onqualitative or quantitative preferences, tradeoffs, exceptions andgeneralizations, or utility independence, but none have combinedall of these expressions under a unified methodology.We present new techniques for representing and giving meaning toquantitative tradeoff statements between different outcomes. Thetradeoffs we consider can be multi-attribute tradeoffs relatingmore than one attribute at a time, they can refer to discrete orcontinuous domains, be conditional or unconditional, andquantified or qualitative. We present related methods ofrepresenting judgments of attribute importance. We then buildupon a methodology for representing arbitrary qualitative ceteris paribuspreference, or preferences ``other things being equal," aspresented in MD04. Tradeoff preferences inour representation are interpreted as constraints on the partialderivatives of the utility function. For example, a decision makercould state that ``Color is five times as important as price,availability, and time," a sentiment one might express in thecontext of repainting a home, and this is interpreted asindicating that utility increases in the positive color directionfive times faster than utility increases in the positive pricedirection. We show that these representations generalize both theeconomic notion of marginal rates of substitution and previousrepresentations of preferences in AI

Effect of prosthodontic planning on lateral occlusion scheme: a comparison between conventional and digital planning

Recently, digital wax-up is proposed as a tool to aid prosthodontic planning. However, there are no data about the effect of prosthodontic planning on lateral occlusion scheme. Objective : This study aims to evaluate the impact of conventional and digital prosthodontic planning on lateral occlusion scheme. Material and Methods : Dental models of 10 patients were collected. All models had Angle Class I occlusion and were undergoing prosthodontic treatment that would influence the lateral occlusion scheme. Each set of models had received both conventional wax-up and digital wax-up. In relation to the lateral occlusion scheme, the following variables were evaluated: the prevalence of the different lateral occlusion scheme, number of contacting teeth and percentage of each contacting tooth. Four excursive positions on the working side were included: 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mm from the maximal intercuspation position. Results : The lateral occlusion scheme of the two wax-up models was subjected to alterations following excursion. There was a tendency for the prevalence of canine-guided occlusion to increase and for the prevalence of group function occlusion to decrease with increasing excursion. The number of contacting teeth was decreasing with the increasing magnitude of excursion. For the 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm positions, the two wax-ups had significantly greater contacts than the pre-treatment models, while at the 2.0 mm and 3.0 mm positions, all the models were similar. For all models, canines were the most commonly contacting teeth, followed by the teeth adjacent to them. No difference was observed between the two wax-ups in relation to the number of contacting teeth. Conclusion : Although the prosthodontic planning had influenced the pattern of the lateral occlusion scheme and contacts, there was no difference between the conventional and digital prosthodontic planning

CGBayesNets: Conditional Gaussian Bayesian Network Learning and Inference with Mixed Discrete and Continuous Data

Bayesian Networks (BN) have been a popular predictive modeling formalism in bioinformatics, but their application in modern genomics has been slowed by an inability to cleanly handle domains with mixed discrete and continuous variables. Existing free BN software packages either discretize continuous variables, which can lead to information loss, or do not include inference routines, which makes prediction with the BN impossible. We present CGBayesNets, a BN package focused around prediction of a clinical phenotype from mixed discrete and continuous variables, which fills these gaps. CGBayesNets implements Bayesian likelihood and inference algorithms for the conditional Gaussian Bayesian network (CGBNs) formalism, one appropriate for predicting an outcome of interest from, e.g., multimodal genomic data. We provide four different network learning algorithms, each making a different tradeoff between computational cost and network likelihood. CGBayesNets provides a full suite of functions for model exploration and verification, including cross validation, bootstrapping, and AUC manipulation. We highlight several results obtained previously with CGBayesNets, including predictive models of wood properties from tree genomics, leukemia subtype classification from mixed genomic data, and robust prediction of intensive care unit mortality outcomes from metabolomic profiles. We also provide detailed example analysis on public metabolomic and gene expression datasets. CGBayesNets is implemented in MATLAB and available as MATLAB source code, under an Open Source license and anonymous download at http://www.cgbayesnets.com

The local geometry of multiattribute tradeoff preferences

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-129).Existing preference reasoning systems have been successful in simple domains. Broader success requires more natural and more expressive preference representations. This thesis develops a representation of logical preferences that combines numerical tradeoff ratios between partial outcome descriptions with qualitative preference information. We argue our system is unique among preference reasoning systems; previous work has focused on qualitative or quantitative preferences, tradeoffs, exceptions and generalizations, or utility independence, but none have combined all of these expressions under a unified methodology. We present new techniques for representing and giving meaning to quantitative tradeoff statements between different outcomes. The tradeoffs we consider can be multi-attribute tradeoffs relating more than one attribute at a time, they can refer to discrete or continuous domains, be conditional or unconditional, and quantified or qualitative. We present related methods of representing judgments of attribute importance. We then build upon a methodology for representing arbitrary qualitative ceteris paribus preference, or preferences "other things being equal," as presented in [MD04].(cont.) Tradeoff preferences in our representation are interpreted as constraints on the partial derivatives of the utility function. For example, a decision maker could state that "Color is five times as important as price, availability, and time," a sentiment one might express in the context of repainting a home, and this is interpreted as indicating that utility increases in the positive color direction five times faster than utility increases in the positive price direction. We show that these representations generalize both the economic notion of marginal rates of substitution and previous representations of preferences in AI.by Michael McGeachie.Ph.D