Talking quiescence: a rigorous theory that supports parallel composition, action hiding and determinisation

The notion of quiescence - the absence of outputs - is vital in both behavioural modelling and testing theory. Although the need for quiescence was already recognised in the 90s, it has only been treated as a second-class citizen thus far. This paper moves quiescence into the foreground and introduces the notion of quiescent transition systems (QTSs): an extension of regular input-output transition systems (IOTSs) in which quiescence is represented explicitly, via quiescent transitions. Four carefully crafted rules on the use of quiescent transitions ensure that our QTSs naturally capture quiescent behaviour. We present the building blocks for a comprehensive theory on QTSs supporting parallel composition, action hiding and determinisation. In particular, we prove that these operations preserve all the aforementioned rules. Additionally, we provide a way to transform existing IOTSs into QTSs, allowing even IOTSs as input that already contain some quiescent transitions. As an important application, we show how our QTS framework simplifies the fundamental model-based testing theory formalised around ioco.Comment: In Proceedings MBT 2012, arXiv:1202.582

Quail-friendly of the Midwest : an aid to identifying plants and managing habitats (2008)

Authors' names from end of foreword.New 5/08/26M

Quail-friendly plants of the Midwest (2022)

"The authors gratefully acknowledge the following individuals and groups for their constructive review of this publication: Steve Clubine, Elsa Gallagher, Emily Horner, Lee Hughes, Aaron Jeffries, Matt Seek, Tim Smith, Bill White, and members of the Missouri Quail and Grassland Bird Technical Committee."--Page 1."The purpose of this guide is to aid in the identification of plants important to bobwhites in the Midwest so that critical evaluations of the food and cover components of habitat can be made. While this guide contains many plants that are important for food and cover, it certainly is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all plant species used by bobwhites. Most of the plants listed are native to the Midwest. The exotic species included here have been in the Midwest a long time and do not exhibit aggressive spreading behavior that might displace native species or reduce biodiversity. All plants listed are likely to be naturalized or found 'growing wild.'"--Page 1.Scott Sudkamp (Missouri Department of Conservation), Robert N. Chapman (Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University), Robert A. Pierce II (School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri)New 5/08/26M.Includes bibliographical reference

The dependence of autologous chondrocyte transplantation on varying cellular passage, yield and culture duration

Matrix-assisted chondrocyte transplantation (m-ACI) still lacks any standardization in its execution in terms of cell passage (P), cell yield (C) and in vitro membrane-holding time (T). It was the goal of this study to analyze the effect of shifting cell culture parameters (P, C, T) on the in vitro as well as in vivo effort of a regulated animal m-ACI. Autologous rabbit knee articular chondrocytes were seeded within bilayer collagen I/III 3-D matrices in variation of P, C and T. Each time, 2 PCT-identical by 2 PCT-identical cell-matrix-constructs (CMC)/animal were created. Simultaneously 2 (PCT-distinct) were re-implanted (CMC-e) autologous into artificial trochlear pristine chondral defects in vivo to remain for 12 weeks while the remaining 2 were harvested (CMC-i) for immediate in vitro analysis at the time of transplantation of their identical twins. mRNA of both, CMC-e regenerates and CMC-i membranes, was analyzed for Collagen-1,-2,-10, COMP, Aggrecan, Sox9 expression by use of a mixed linear model, multiple regression analysis. Generally, CMC-i values were higher than CMC-e values for differentiation targets; the opposite was true for dedifferentiation targets. Regarding individual gene expression, in vivo regenerate cell-matrix properties were significantly dependent on initial cell-matrix in vitro values as a sign of linearity. The parameter membrane-holding time (T) had strongest effects on the resulting mRNA expression with slightly less impact of the parameter passage (P), whereas cell yield (C) had clearly less effects. Noting differences between in vitro and in vivo data, in general, optimal expression patterns concerning chondrogenic differentiation were achieved by few passages, medium cellular yield, short membrane-holding time. Clinical m-ACI may benefit from optimal orchestration of the cell culture parameters passage, yield and time

Software model synthesis using satisfiability solvers

Contains fulltext : 103766.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access

An Exploratory Robot Controller which Adapts to Unknown Environments and Damaged Sensors

In this paper we describe an adaptive mobile robot control system that enables a multi-sensor robot to learn reactive behaviours by interacting with the environment. The controller is particularly suitable for exploratory robots due to its ability to adapt to unknown environments and recover from partial sensor damage. Learning is based on the robot learning a map between sensors and trajectory velocities so at any instant the robot becomes capable of realising how fast it should move along its predefined trajectories. Behaviours are performed by selecting trajectories based on their velocity and closeness to a preset behaviour criteria. Unlike reinforcement learning, the map can be obtained relatively quickly by extracting knowledge directly form the environment via the sensors thereby avoiding the credit assignment problem. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach to robot learning by using a Yamabico mobile robot to firstly acquire goal seeking behaviour and then recover from damage inflicted on its sensors. 1