Effortless Fault Localisation:Conformance Testing of Real-Time Systems in Ecdar

Model checking of real-time systems has evolved throughout the years. Recently, the model checker Ecdar, using timed I/O automata, was used to perform compositional verification. However, in order to fully integrate model checking of real-time systems into industrial development, we need a productive and reliable way to test if such a system conforms to its corresponding model. Hence, we present an extension of Ecdar that integrates conformance testing into a new IDE that now features modelling, verification, and testing. The new tool uses model-based mutation testing, requiring only the model and the system under test, to locate faults and to prove the absence of certain types of faults. It supports testing using either real-time or simulated time. It parallelises test-case generation and test execution to provide a significant speed-up. We also introduce new mutation operators that improve the ability to detect and locate faults. Finally, we conduct a case study with 140 faulty systems, where Ecdar detects all faults.Comment: In Proceedings GandALF 2018, arXiv:1809.0241

COST Action IC 1402 ArVI: Runtime Verification Beyond Monitoring -- Activity Report of Working Group 1

This report presents the activities of the first working group of the COST Action ArVI, Runtime Verification beyond Monitoring. The report aims to provide an overview of some of the major core aspects involved in Runtime Verification. Runtime Verification is the field of research dedicated to the analysis of system executions. It is often seen as a discipline that studies how a system run satisfies or violates correctness properties. The report exposes a taxonomy of Runtime Verification (RV) presenting the terminology involved with the main concepts of the field. The report also develops the concept of instrumentation, the various ways to instrument systems, and the fundamental role of instrumentation in designing an RV framework. We also discuss how RV interplays with other verification techniques such as model-checking, deductive verification, model learning, testing, and runtime assertion checking. Finally, we propose challenges in monitoring quantitative and statistical data beyond detecting property violation

Timed I/O Automata: It is never too late to complete your timed specification theory

A specification theory combines notions of specifications and implementations with a satisfaction relation, a refinement relation and a set of operators supporting stepwise design. We develop a complete specification framework for real-time systems using Timed I/O Automata as the specification formalism, with the semantics expressed in terms of Timed I/O Transition Systems. We provide constructs for refinement, consistency checking, logical and structural composition, and quotient of specifications -- all indispensable ingredients of a compositional design methodology. The theory is backed by rigorous proofs and is being implemented in the open-source tool ECDAR.Comment: Version submitted for revie

Discovery of Sexual Dimorphisms in Metabolic and Genetic Biomarkers

Metabolomic profiling and the integration of whole-genome genetic association data has proven to be a powerful tool to comprehensively explore gene regulatory networks and to investigate the effects of genetic variation at the molecular level. Serum metabolite concentrations allow a direct readout of biological processes, and association of specific metabolomic signatures with complex diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular and metabolic disorders has been shown. There are well-known correlations between sex and the incidence, prevalence, age of onset, symptoms, and severity of a disease, as well as the reaction to drugs. However, most of the studies published so far did not consider the role of sexual dimorphism and did not analyse their data stratified by gender. This study investigated sex-specific differences of serum metabolite concentrations and their underlying genetic determination. For discovery and replication we used more than 3,300 independent individuals from KORA F3 and F4 with metabolite measurements of 131 metabolites, including amino acids, phosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelins, acylcarnitines, and C6-sugars. A linear regression approach revealed significant concentration differences between males and females for 102 out of 131 metabolites (p-values<3.8 x 10(-4); Bonferroni-corrected threshold). Sex-specific genome-wide association studies (GWAS) showed genome-wide significant differences in beta-estimates for SNPs in the CPS1 locus (carbamoyl-phosphate synthase 1, significance level: p<3.8 x 10(-10); Bonferroni-corrected threshold) for glycine. We showed that the metabolite profiles of males and females are significantly different and, furthermore, that specific genetic variants in metabolism-related genes depict sexual dimorphism. Our study provides new important insights into sex-specific differences of cell regulatory processes and underscores that studies should consider sex-specific effects in design and interpretation

Influence of the Chemical Structure on Odor Qualities and Odor Thresholds of Halogenated Guaiacol-Derived Odorants

Chlorinated guaiacol derivatives are found in waste water of pulp mills using chlorine in the bleaching process of wood pulp. They can also be detected in fish tissue, possibly causing off-odors. To date, there is no systematic investigation on the odor properties of halogenated guaiacol derivatives. To close this gap, odor thresholds in air and odor qualities of 14 compounds were determined by gas chromatography-olfactometry. Overall, the investigated compounds elicited smells that are characteristic for guaiacol, namely smoky, sweet, vanilla-like, but also medicinal and plaster-like. Their odor thresholds in air were, however, very low, ranging from 0.00072 to 23 ng/Lair. The lowest thresholds were found for 5-chloro- and 5-bromoguaiacol, followed by 4,5-dichloro- and 6-chloroguaiacol. Moreover, some inter-individual differences in odor threshold values could be observed, with the highest variations having been recorded for the individual values of 5-iodo- and 4-bromoguaiacol