Specification Reuse using Data Refinement in Dafny

Data refinement is a technique for transforming system specifications into system implementation that differs in data types. It gives us the freedom to write specifications in a way that is independent of its implementation; moreover we can generate multiple implementations without changing the system specifications, the client does not have to worry about the underlying implementation. Abstraction Invariant is used to relate the high level abstract specification to its concrete implementation. Dafny is a research language developed by Microsoft. Its main focus is data refinement. The language provides the rich mathematical properties such as sequences, sets and multi-set, along with functions, predicates, methods and user defined data types. In Dafny the Abstraction Invariant is in the form of a function, which is added as a pre and post conditions to all of methods and functions. Given this function one can verify that the code is providing the implementation that satisfies its specifications even when the specification is defined in term of one data structure and the code is implemented in term of another data structure. Dafny works with Boogie which is a static program verifier and the SMT solver Z3. These are the main underlying technologies for verification: Dafny code is translated in to Boogie from which the verification conditions are generated for Z3 in order to verify the program. In this research the programmer over head is identified when replacing one implementation to another in terms of underlying data structure change while preserving the client specification. The motivation behind this work is to assist programmers to come up with a quick solution in situations such as “slow system performance” with new system implementation. Moreover, a semi automatic tool is developed for transforming one implementation to another without changing the client specifications. The result is the generation of a semi verified program whose implementation is in terms of a data structure other than that used in the specifications. The verification can be fully automatic through the provision of implementation details from the user

BigExcel: A Web-Based Framework for Exploring Big Data in Social Sciences

This paper argues that there are three fundamental challenges that need to be overcome in order to foster the adoption of big data technologies in non-computer science related disciplines: addressing issues of accessibility of such technologies for non-computer scientists, supporting the ad hoc exploration of large data sets with minimal effort and the availability of lightweight web-based frameworks for quick and easy analytics. In this paper, we address the above three challenges through the development of 'BigExcel', a three tier web-based framework for exploring big data to facilitate the management of user interactions with large data sets, the construction of queries to explore the data set and the management of the infrastructure. The feasibility of BigExcel is demonstrated through two Yahoo Sandbox datasets. The first dataset is the Yahoo Buzz Score data set we use for quantitatively predicting trending technologies and the second is the Yahoo n-gram corpus we use for qualitatively inferring the coverage of important events. A demonstration of the BigExcel framework and source code is available at http://bigdata.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/projects/bigexcel-exploring-big-data-for-social-sciences/.Comment: 8 page

Risk Factors of Diarrhoea in Malnourished Children Under Age of 5 Years

Background: Acute infectious enteritis remains one of the commonest causes of death among infants and children in developing countries. Acute enteritis is defined as a loss of stool consistency with pasty or liquid stools, and/or an increase in stool frequency to more than three stools in 24 hours with or without fever or vomiting. Human survival depends on the secretion and reabsorption of fluid and electrolytes in the intestinal tract. The objective of the study is to evaluate the risk factors of diarrhoea in children under age of 5 years. Methodology: It was an observational study. Study was completed in about six months. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used. In this study, 270 samples were taken from Diarrheal ward of The Children Hospital Lahore, Pakistan. Results: In this study, out of 270 patients, 58.52% were males and 41.48% were females. 90.37% patients were vaccinated. 54.81% had weaning history. 91.85% patients had feeding history. 29.26% had blood in stool. 96.67% patients were dehydrated. 95.56% patients had loose watery diarrhoea. 62.96% patients used boiled water. 58.52% patients consumed less than half litre of water, 30.00% patients consumed 1 litre of water and 11.48% patients consumed > 1 litre of water. 49.18% patients had proper hygiene. 38.15% mothers of patients were well educated. 40.37% patients had model household condition. 57.41% patients lived in rural area and 42.59% patients lived in urban area. Conclusion: The variation in the level of diarrheal morbidity was well explained by maternal education, income, personal hygiene, refuse disposal system and the effect of health extension programme

Grammatical and Syntactical Functions of Auxiliaries in English and Urdu

The current study investigates grammatical and syntactical functions of auxiliaries in Urdu and English to draw certain distinctions regarding the behavior, syntactic representation and semantic content auxiliaries add to the main verbs (Vs) through the X-bar theory as a theoretical framework within the minimalist program (MP). The data of the current research were collected from authentic sources (Urdu and English text books and grammars) to consider a diverse range of possible usage of Urdu and English auxiliaries. 200 sentences extracted from textbooks and grammars were analyzed grammatically in terms of morphology, and syntax (through tree-representation and their movement). The findings indicate sharp differences related to the syntactic position of auxiliaries in Urdu and English. In Urdu, auxiliaries always occupy their position after the main verbs in a sentence and their position is fixed and also have the ability to mark number (singular & plural) and gender (masculine & feminine). In contrast, English auxiliaries can only mark number. Another sharp difference is observed in the question formation process. In Urdu, unlike English, auxiliaries cannot be moved from its latent position towards the specifier position at the beginning of the sentence to construct question structures, because, if it happens, the sentence is considered ungrammatical which may result in the violation of MP. The findings of the study would prove helpful for understanding the semantic, grammatical and syntactical nature and behavior of auxiliaries comparatively in Urdu and English

Pre-operative Anxiety Compounding Intra-operative Hypotension in Parturient women undergoing Cesarean Deliveries under Spinal Anesthesia

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation of intra-operative hypotension with severity of pre-operative anxiety in patients undergoing caesarean section under spinal anesthesia. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY:  This study was carried out from June 2017 to May 2018 at anesthesia department of Combined Military Hospital Lahore. METHODOLOGY: One hundred and twenty patients belonging to America Society of Anesthesiology class I and II, undergoing caesarean section under spinal anesthesia were selected.  Verbal Analogue Scale for anxiety (VASA) and Straight Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAIs) questionnaire were used to measure pre-operative anxiety. Patients were divided into three groups as mild (VASA<3or STAIs<44), moderate (VASA 4-7 or STAIs 44-55) and severe (VASA 7-10 or STAIs>55) anxiety. Baseline mean arterial pressure was measured. Patients were placed in supine position immediately after induction of spinal anesthesia at L3-L4 or L4-L5 level with 12mg bupivacaine. Blood pressure was measured every two minutes until the delivery of baby. Hypotension was labeled when mean arterial pressure dropped by 20% below the baseline. The effect of level of anxiety on drop in MAP was assessed. RESULTS: Seventeen (14.17%) patients had mild pre-operative anxiety; out of which four (23.53%) developed hypotension. Seventy three (60.83%) patients had moderate anxiety; out of which twenty seven (36.99%) developed hypotension. Thirty (25%) patients had severe anxiety; out of which twenty two (73.33 %) developed hypotension. P-value (0.001) was quite significant. CONCLUSION:  It was concluded in our study that severity of pre-operative anxiety has significant effect on intra-operative spinal hypotension

Comparison of Bupivacaine and Dexmedetomidine versus Bupivacaine Alone in Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Post-Operative Analgesia

Objective: To study the effects of adding dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine in transverses abdominis plane block in comparison with using bupivacaine alone. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective comparative study that was conducted in the Anaesthesia Department, CMH, Lahore over a period of six months from 1st June 2020 to 30th November 2020. Fifty patients of the American Society of Anesthesiologist Class I and II with an age range between 40 to 60 years were divided into two groups. Group B received 20ml of 0.25% bupivacaine with 2ml of normal saline on each side in the transversus abdominis plane block while group BD was given 20ml of 0.25% bupivacaine with dexmedetomidine 0.5mcg/kg on each side (in a volume of 2ml). Post-operative pain was assessed with a visual analogue scale. Rescue analgesia was given when a score of greater than 3 was observed using this scale. Time to first rescue analgesia was noted. Total opioid consumption in the first 24 hours was also recorded. Patients were observed for postoperative hypotension and bradycardia.Results: The mean-time for the first dose of analgesia for group B and BD was 302.92 ± 24.01 and 419.28 ± 31.97 minutes respectively with a p-value of 0.001. The mean of the total consumption of opioids in 24 hours post-operatively for group B and BD was 14.20±2.36 and 10.40±1.38 mg respectively with a p-value of 0.001. Hypotension was not seen in any patient in either group. Only one patient developed bradycardia and he belonged to group BD. P-value was 0.327.Conclusion: The addition of dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine for transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative analgesia significantly prolongs the duration of analgesia and reduces the postoperative opioid requirements

Internet of Things: smart ubiquitous architecture of intelligent transport system

By 2020, there will be more than 24 billion smart devices connected in the Internet of Things (IoT). Tremendously augmented motorization, population, and urbanization has not only brought us many amenities but also has increased traffic congestion to its limits. In this paper, we used IOT to design an efficient and congestion free Intelligent Transport System (ITS). A lot of research is done to either improve or change any one aspect of ITS at one time. This paper demonstrates every aspect or features of an efficient ITS. The purpose of this research is to provide developing countries a detailed and easy to follow ITS architecture so that they can create an ITS for their populace