539 research outputs found
The complexity of linear-time temporal logic over the class of ordinals
We consider the temporal logic with since and until modalities. This temporal
logic is expressively equivalent over the class of ordinals to first-order
logic by Kamp's theorem. We show that it has a PSPACE-complete satisfiability
problem over the class of ordinals. Among the consequences of our proof, we
show that given the code of some countable ordinal alpha and a formula, we can
decide in PSPACE whether the formula has a model over alpha. In order to show
these results, we introduce a class of simple ordinal automata, as expressive
as B\"uchi ordinal automata. The PSPACE upper bound for the satisfiability
problem of the temporal logic is obtained through a reduction to the
nonemptiness problem for the simple ordinal automata.Comment: Accepted for publication in LMC
Weighted Automata and Logics for Infinite Nested Words
Nested words introduced by Alur and Madhusudan are used to capture structures
with both linear and hierarchical order, e.g. XML documents, without losing
valuable closure properties. Furthermore, Alur and Madhusudan introduced
automata and equivalent logics for both finite and infinite nested words, thus
extending B\"uchi's theorem to nested words. Recently, average and discounted
computations of weights in quantitative systems found much interest. Here, we
will introduce and investigate weighted automata models and weighted MSO logics
for infinite nested words. As weight structures we consider valuation monoids
which incorporate average and discounted computations of weights as well as the
classical semirings. We show that under suitable assumptions, two resp. three
fragments of our weighted logics can be transformed into each other. Moreover,
we show that the logic fragments have the same expressive power as weighted
nested word automata.Comment: LATA 2014, 12 page
Autochthonous Case of Pulmonary Histoplasmosis, Switzerland.
In Europe, pulmonary histoplasmosis is rarely diagnosed except in travelers. We report a probable autochthonous case of severe chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis in an immunocompetent man in Switzerland without travel history outside of Europe. Diagnosis was achieved by histopathology, fungal culture, and serology, but the source of the infection remains speculative
Potential role of coronary vasoconstriction in ischaemic heart disease: effect of exercise
Coronary vasomotion plays an important role in the regulation of coronary perfusion at rest and during exercise. Normal coronary arteries show coronary vasodilation of the proximal (+20%) and distal (+40%) vessel segments during supine bicycle exercise. However, patients with coronary artery disease show exercise-induced vasoconstriction of the stenotic vessel segments. The exact mechanism of exercise-induced stenosis narrowing is not clear but might be related to a passive collapse of the disease-free vessel wall (Venturi mechanism), elevated plasma levels of circulating catecholamines, an insufficient production of the endothelium-derived vesorelaxing factor or increased platelet aggregation due to turbulent blood flow with release of thromboxane A2 and serotonin. Various vasoactive drugs, such as nitroglycerin and calcium antagonists, prevent exercise-induced stenosis vasoconstriction. An additive effect on coronary vasodilation of the stenotic vessel segment was observed after combination of nitroglycerin with diltiazem. Thus, exercise-induced stenosis narrowing plays an important role in the pathophysiology of myocardial ischaemia during dynamic exercise. The antianginal effect of vasoactive substances can be explained—besides the effect on pre- and afterload—by a direct action on coronary stenosis vasomotio
On the Sets of Real Numbers Recognized by Finite Automata in Multiple Bases
This article studies the expressive power of finite automata recognizing sets
of real numbers encoded in positional notation. We consider Muller automata as
well as the restricted class of weak deterministic automata, used as symbolic
set representations in actual applications. In previous work, it has been
established that the sets of numbers that are recognizable by weak
deterministic automata in two bases that do not share the same set of prime
factors are exactly those that are definable in the first order additive theory
of real and integer numbers. This result extends Cobham's theorem, which
characterizes the sets of integer numbers that are recognizable by finite
automata in multiple bases.
In this article, we first generalize this result to multiplicatively
independent bases, which brings it closer to the original statement of Cobham's
theorem. Then, we study the sets of reals recognizable by Muller automata in
two bases. We show with a counterexample that, in this setting, Cobham's
theorem does not generalize to multiplicatively independent bases. Finally, we
prove that the sets of reals that are recognizable by Muller automata in two
bases that do not share the same set of prime factors are exactly those
definable in the first order additive theory of real and integer numbers. These
sets are thus also recognizable by weak deterministic automata. This result
leads to a precise characterization of the sets of real numbers that are
recognizable in multiple bases, and provides a theoretical justification to the
use of weak automata as symbolic representations of sets.Comment: 17 page
What's Decidable About Sequences?
We present a first-order theory of sequences with integer elements,
Presburger arithmetic, and regular constraints, which can model significant
properties of data structures such as arrays and lists. We give a decision
procedure for the quantifier-free fragment, based on an encoding into the
first-order theory of concatenation; the procedure has PSPACE complexity. The
quantifier-free fragment of the theory of sequences can express properties such
as sortedness and injectivity, as well as Boolean combinations of periodic and
arithmetic facts relating the elements of the sequence and their positions
(e.g., "for all even i's, the element at position i has value i+3 or 2i"). The
resulting expressive power is orthogonal to that of the most expressive
decidable logics for arrays. Some examples demonstrate that the fragment is
also suitable to reason about sequence-manipulating programs within the
standard framework of axiomatic semantics.Comment: Fixed a few lapses in the Mergesort exampl
Trees over Infinite Structures and Path Logics with Synchronization
We provide decidability and undecidability results on the model-checking
problem for infinite tree structures. These tree structures are built from
sequences of elements of infinite relational structures. More precisely, we
deal with the tree iteration of a relational structure M in the sense of
Shelah-Stupp. In contrast to classical results where model-checking is shown
decidable for MSO-logic, we show decidability of the tree model-checking
problem for logics that allow only path quantifiers and chain quantifiers
(where chains are subsets of paths), as they appear in branching time logics;
however, at the same time the tree is enriched by the equal-level relation
(which holds between vertices u, v if they are on the same tree level). We
separate cleanly the tree logic from the logic used for expressing properties
of the underlying structure M. We illustrate the scope of the decidability
results by showing that two slight extensions of the framework lead to
undecidability. In particular, this applies to the (stronger) tree iteration in
the sense of Muchnik-Walukiewicz.Comment: In Proceedings INFINITY 2011, arXiv:1111.267
Delay Games with WMSO+U Winning Conditions
Delay games are two-player games of infinite duration in which one player may
delay her moves to obtain a lookahead on her opponent's moves. We consider
delay games with winning conditions expressed in weak monadic second order
logic with the unbounding quantifier, which is able to express (un)boundedness
properties. We show that it is decidable whether the delaying player has a
winning strategy using bounded lookahead and give a doubly-exponential upper
bound on the necessary lookahead. In contrast, we show that bounded lookahead
is not always sufficient to win such a game.Comment: A short version appears in the proceedings of CSR 2015. The
definition of the equivalence relation introduced in Section 3 is updated:
the previous one was inadequate, which invalidates the proof of Lemma 2. The
correction presented here suffices to prove Lemma 2 and does not affect our
main theorem. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1412.370
Logics for Unranked Trees: An Overview
Labeled unranked trees are used as a model of XML documents, and logical
languages for them have been studied actively over the past several years. Such
logics have different purposes: some are better suited for extracting data,
some for expressing navigational properties, and some make it easy to relate
complex properties of trees to the existence of tree automata for those
properties. Furthermore, logics differ significantly in their model-checking
properties, their automata models, and their behavior on ordered and unordered
trees. In this paper we present a survey of logics for unranked trees
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