Formal verification of AI software

The application of formal verification techniques to Artificial Intelligence (AI) software, particularly expert systems, is investigated. Constraint satisfaction and model inversion are identified as two formal specification paradigms for different classes of expert systems. A formal definition of consistency is developed, and the notion of approximate semantics is introduced. Examples are given of how these ideas can be applied in both declarative and imperative forms

Nuclear Entry of Activated MAPK Is Restricted in Primary Ovarian and Mammary Epithelial Cells

The MAPK/ERK1/2 serine kinases are primary mediators of the Ras mitogenic signaling pathway. Phosphorylation by MEK activates MAPK/ERK in the cytoplasm, and phospho-ERK is thought to enter the nucleus readily to modulate transcription.Here, however, we observe that in primary cultures of breast and ovarian epithelial cells, phosphorylation and activation of ERK1/2 are disassociated from nuclear translocalization and transcription of downstream targets, such as c-Fos, suggesting that nuclear translocation is limited in primary cells. Accordingly, in import assays in vitro, primary cells showed a lower import activity for ERK1/2 than cancer cells, in which activated MAPK readily translocated into the nucleus and activated c-Fos expression. Primary cells express lower levels of nuclear pore complex proteins and the nuclear transport factors, importin B1 and importin 7, which may explain the limiting ERK1/2 import found in primary cells. Additionally, reduction in expression of nucleoporin 153 by siRNA targeting reduced ERK1/2 nuclear activity in cancer cells.ERK1/2 activation is dissociated from nuclear entry, which is a rate limiting step in primary cells and in vivo, and the restriction of nuclear entry is disrupted in transformed cells by the increased expression of nuclear pores and/or nuclear transport factors

Systemic software reuse through analogical reasoning

This research focuses on analogical reasoning as applied to the problem of software reuse at the level of the system architecture. The resulting methodology may be thought of as a hybrid approach to software reuse, as it combines a compositional developmental strategy with synthesis of role-based behaviors. The components of this research include: a methodology based upon an extension of object-oriented design principles that promotes decoupling of object representations and provides mechanisms for composing systems from abstract objects, relations, and frameworks; techniques for measuring the degree that two systems are analogically correlated; and automated support for the application of analogically derived mappings in the translation of system concepts from source to target domains.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio

The national randomized field trial of Success for All: Second-year outcomes

This article reports literacy outcomes for a 2-year longitudinal student sample and a combined longitudinal and "in-mover" (i.e., those students who moved into the study schools between the initial pretest and the second-year posttest) sample, both of which were nested within 38 schools. Through the use of a cluster randomization design, schools were randomly assigned to implement Success for All or control methods. Hierarchical linear model analyses involving the longitudinal sample revealed statistically significant school-level effects of assignment to Success for All on three of the four literacy outcomes measured. Effects were as large as one quarter of a standard deviation—a learning advantage relative to controls exceeding half of a school year. Impacts for the combined longitudinal and in-mover sample were smaller in magnitude and more variable. The results correspond with the Success for All program theory, which targets school-level reform through multiyear sequencing of intensive literacy instructio