Folk Theorems on the Correspondence between State-Based and Event-Based Systems

Kripke Structures and Labelled Transition Systems are the two most prominent semantic models used in concurrency theory. Both models are commonly believed to be equi-expressive. One can find many ad-hoc embeddings of one of these models into the other. We build upon the seminal work of De Nicola and Vaandrager that firmly established the correspondence between stuttering equivalence in Kripke Structures and divergence-sensitive branching bisimulation in Labelled Transition Systems. We show that their embeddings can also be used for a range of other equivalences of interest, such as strong bisimilarity, simulation equivalence, and trace equivalence. Furthermore, we extend the results by De Nicola and Vaandrager by showing that there are additional translations that allow one to use minimisation techniques in one semantic domain to obtain minimal representatives in the other semantic domain for these equivalences.Comment: Full version of SOFSEM 2011 pape

Light meson resonances from unitarized Chiral Perturbation Theory

We report on our recent progress in the generation of resonant behavior in unitarized meson-meson scattering amplitudes obtained from Chiral Perturbation Theory. These amplitudes provide simultaneously a remarkable description of the resonance region up to 1.2 GeV as well as the low energy region, since they respect the chiral symmetry expansion. By studying the position of the poles in these amplitudes it is possible to determine the mass and width of the associated resonances, as well as to get a hint on possible classification schemes, that could be of interest for the spectroscopy of the scalar sector.Comment: Invited talk to the II International Workshop on Hadron Physics & Effective Theories of Low Energy QCD. 25-29 September 2002. Coimbra. Portuga

Meson resonances from unitarized meson scattering at one loop in Chiral Perturbation Theory

We show the results for the scattering poles associated to the rho, f0, a0, K*, sigma and kappa resonances in meson-meson scattering. Our amplitudes are obtained from the complete one-loop meson-meson scattering amplitudes from Chiral Perturbation Theory. Once unitarized with the Inverse Amplitude Method, they describe remarkably well the data simultaneously in the low energy and resonance regions up to 1.2 GeV, using low energy parameters compatible with present determinations.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 5th International Conference on ``Quark confinement and the hadron spectrum'', held in Gargnano, Garda Lake, Italy. 10-14th September 2002. 3 page

The Multifarious Role of Microglia in Brain Metastasis

The immune landscape in brain metastasis is a very heterogeneous framework. Amongst a broad plethora of cells within the tumor microenvironment, the presence of activated microglia has been perfectly described. The innate role of microglial cells is to detect and eliminate any insults that may disturb the regular behavior of the brain. As part of its defensive role, it releases pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines that aim to modulate the inflammatory scenario at the metastatic foci. However, the long term effects that these cells may exert on the metastatic progression is not clear. One of the biggest challenges in the field is to distinguish between brain resident microglial cells and infiltrated bone-marrow derived macrophages. Part of this issue is the fact that both cell types share similar phenotypes. Current studies are based on the modulation of the immune response against cancer cells (immunotherapy). However, most of current clinical trials and newly developed drugs focus on the adaptive immune response (e.g., immune blockade check-points). Additionally, the unique structure of the central nervous system with the presence of the blood-brain barrier have hindered a significant advance in novel therapies against brain metastasis. In this manuscript, we describe current advances in characterization of tumor-associated microglia and macrophages, the importance of microglia during the anti-cancerous response, and the future direction for the development of new strategies against this complex disease

Unitarization of the complete meson-meson scattering at one loop in Chiral Perturbation Theory

We report on our one-loop calculation of all the two meson scattering amplitudes within SU(3) Chiral Perturbation Theory, i.e. with pions, kaons and etas. Once the amplitudes are unitarized with the coupled channel Inverse Amplitude Method, they satisfy simultaneously the correct low-energy chiral constraints and unitarity. We obtain a remarkable description of meson-meson scattering data up to 1.2 GeV including the scattering lengths and seven light resonances.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of QCD@work: International Workshop on QCD: Theory and Experiment. Martina Franca (Italy) June 16-20. 200

MAGDA: A Mobile Agent based Grid Architecture

Mobile agents mean both a technology and a programming paradigm. They allow for a flexible approach which can alleviate a number of issues present in distributed and Grid-based systems, by means of features such as migration, cloning, messaging and other provided mechanisms. In this paper we describe an architecture (MAGDA – Mobile Agent based Grid Architecture) we have designed and we are currently developing to support programming and execution of mobile agent based application upon Grid systems

Service provider difficulties in operationalising coercive control

We examined perspectives of social workers, police officers, and specialist domestic abuse practitioners about their perceived ability and organizational readiness to respond effectively to incidents of coercive and controlling behavior. Interviews revealed intervention and risk assessment strategies structured around an outdated, maladaptive concept of domestic abuse as an unambiguous and violent event and frontline services that lacked appreciation of the power dynamics inherent in controlling relationships. The analysis demonstrates how lack of definitional clarity around nonphysical domestic abuse can increase the use of discretion by frontline services and, by extension, increase the discounting of coercive control by pressured frontline officers