877 research outputs found
Contracts for Interacting Two-Party Systems
This article deals with the interrelation of deontic operators in contracts
-- an aspect often neglected when considering only one of the involved parties.
On top of an automata-based semantics we formalise the onuses that obligations,
permissions and prohibitions on one party impose on the other. Such
formalisation allows for a clean notion of contract strictness and a derived
notion of contract conflict that is enriched with issues arising from party
interdependence.Comment: In Proceedings FLACOS 2012, arXiv:1209.169
A Second Generation Radioactive Nuclear Beam Facility at CERN
The proposed Superconducting Proton Linac (SPL) at CERN would be an ideal driver for a proton-driven second-generation Radioactive Nuclear Beam facility. We propose to investigate the feasibility of constructing such a facility at CERN close to the present PS Booster ISOLDE facility. The existing ISOLDE facility would be fed with a 10 micro-amps proton beam from SPL, providing the physics community with a low-intensity experimental area. A second, new facility would be built with target stations deep underground, permitting proton beam intensities of more than 100 micro-amps. The secondary beams can be post-accelerated to 20-100 MeV/u and there will be a storage ring complex and large segmented detectors in the experimental area. Also, benefits from a muon-ion collider or from merging the ions and muons should be investigated. Since the antiproton decelerator would be nearby, the opportunities for antiprotonic radioactive atom studies should be pursued as well
A History of BlockingQueues
This paper describes a way to formally specify the behaviour of concurrent
data structures. When specifying concurrent data structures, the main challenge
is to make specifications stable, i.e., to ensure that they cannot be
invalidated by other threads. To this end, we propose to use history-based
specifications: instead of describing method behaviour in terms of the object's
state, we specify it in terms of the object's state history. A history is
defined as a list of state updates, which at all points can be related to the
actual object's state.
We illustrate the approach on the BlockingQueue hierarchy from the
java.util.concurrent library. We show how the behaviour of the interface
BlockingQueue is specified, leaving a few decisions open to descendant classes.
The classes implementing the interface correctly inherit the specifications. As
a specification language, we use a combination of JML and permission-based
separation logic, including abstract predicates. This results in an abstract,
modular and natural way to specify the behaviour of concurrent queues. The
specifications can be used to derive high-level properties about queues, for
example to show that the order of elements is preserved. Moreover, the approach
can be easily adapted to other concurrent data structures.Comment: In Proceedings FLACOS 2012, arXiv:1209.169
Conformance Verification of Normative Specifications using C-O Diagrams
C-O Diagrams have been introduced as a means to have a visual representation
of normative texts and electronic contracts, where it is possible to represent
the obligations, permissions and prohibitions of the different signatories, as
well as what are the penalties in case of not fulfillment of their obligations
and prohibitions. In such diagrams we are also able to represent absolute and
relative timing constrains.
In this paper we consider a formal semantics for C-O Diagrams based on a
network of timed automata and we present several relations to check the
consistency of a contract in terms of realizability, to analyze whether an
implementation satisfies the requirements defined on its contract, and to
compare several implementations using the executed permissions as criteria.Comment: In Proceedings FLACOS 2012, arXiv:1209.169
Simplifying Contract-Violating Traces
Contract conformance is hard to determine statically, prior to the deployment
of large pieces of software. A scalable alternative is to monitor for contract
violations post-deployment: once a violation is detected, the trace
characterising the offending execution is analysed to pinpoint the source of
the offence. A major drawback with this technique is that, often, contract
violations take time to surface, resulting in long traces that are hard to
analyse. This paper proposes a methodology together with an accompanying tool
for simplifying traces and assisting contract-violation debugging.Comment: In Proceedings FLACOS 2012, arXiv:1209.169
Charge-radius change and nuclear moments in the heavy tin isotopes from laser spectroscopy: Charge radius of Sn
NESTER ACCLaser spectroscopy measurements have been carried out on the neutron-rich tin isotopes with the COMPLIS experimental setup. Using the optical transition, hyperfine spectra of Sn and were recorded for the first time. The nuclear moments and the mean square charge radius variation (\delta, the absolute charge radii of these isotopes were deduced in particular that of the doubly magic Sn nucleus. The comparison of the results with several mean-field-type calculations have shown that dynamical effects play an important role in the tin isotopes
Lubricated revolute joints in rigid multibody systems
The main purpose of this work is to present a general methodology for modeling lubricated revolute joints in constrained rigid multibody systems. In the dynamic analysis of journal-bearings, the hydrodynamic forces, which include both squeeze and wedge effects, generated by the lubricant fluid, oppose the journal motion. The hydrodynamic forces are obtained by integrating the pressure distribution evaluated with the aid of Reynoldsâ equation, written for the dynamic regime. The hydrodynamic forces built up by the lubricant fluid are evaluated from the system state variables and included into the equations of motion of the multibody system. Numerical examples are presented in order to demonstrate the use of the methodologies and procedures described in this work.Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (FCT
Latent Tuberculosis in HIV positive, diagnosed by the M. Tuberculosis Specific Interferon-Îł test
BACKGROUND: Although tuberculosis (TB) is a minor problem in Denmark, severe and complicated cases occur in HIV positive. Since the new M. tuberculosis specific test for latent TB, the QuantiFERON-TB In-Tube test (QFT-IT) became available the patients in our clinic have been screened for the presence of latent TB using the QFT-IT test. We here report the results from the first patients screened. METHODS: On a routine basis the QFT-IT test was performed and the results from 590 HIV positive individuals consecutively tested are presented here. CD4 cell count and TB risk-factors were recorded from patient files. MAIN FINDINGS: 27/590(4.6%) of the individuals were QFT-IT test positive, indicating the presence of latent TB infection. Among QFT-IT positive patients, 78% had risk factors such as long-term residency in a TB high endemic area (OR:5.7), known TB exposure (OR:4.9) or previous TB disease (OR:4.9). The prevalence of latent TB in these groups were 13%, 16% and 19% respectively. There was a strong correlation between low CD4 T-cell count and a low mitogen response (P < 0.001;Spearman) and more patients with low CD4 cell count had indeterminate results. CONCLUSION: We found an overall prevalence of latent TB infection of 4.6% among the HIV positive individuals and a much higher prevalence of latent infection among those with a history of exposure (16%) and long term residency in a high endemic country (13%). The QFT-IT test may indeed be a useful test for HIV positive individuals, but in severely immunocompromised, the test may be impaired by T-cell anergy
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