312 research outputs found
Tree rules in probabilistic transition system specifications with negative and quantitative premises
Probabilistic transition system specifications (PTSSs) in the ntmufnu/ntmuxnu
format provide structural operational semantics for Segala-type systems that
exhibit both probabilistic and nondeterministic behavior and guarantee that
isimilarity is a congruence.Similar to the nondeterministic case of rule format
tyft/tyxt, we show that the well-foundedness requirement is unnecessary in the
probabilistic setting. To achieve this, we first define an extended version of
the ntmufnu/ntmuxnu format in which quantitative premises and conclusions
include nested convex combinations of distributions. This format also
guarantees that bisimilarity is a congruence. Then, for a given (possibly
non-well-founded) PTSS in the new format, we construct an equivalent
well-founded transition system consisting of only rules of the simpler
(well-founded) probabilistic ntree format. Furthermore, we develop a
proof-theoretic notion for these PTSSs that coincides with the existing
stratification-based meaning in case the PTSS is stratifiable. This continues
the line of research lifting structural operational semantic results from the
nondeterministic setting to systems with both probabilistic and
nondeterministic behavior.Comment: In Proceedings EXPRESS/SOS 2012, arXiv:1208.244
Efficiently enforcing mutual state exclusion requirements in symbolic supervisor synthesis
Given a model of an uncontrolled system and a requirement specification, a supervisory controller can be synthesized so that the system under control adheres to the requirements. There are several ways in which informal behavioral safety requirements can be formalized, one of which is using mutual state exclusion requirements. In current implementations of the supervisor synthesis algorithm, synthesis may be inefficient when mutual state exclusion requirements are used. We propose a method to efficiently enforce these requirements in supervisor synthesis. We consider symbolic supervisor synthesis, where Binary Decision Diagrams are used to represent the system. The efficiency of the proposed method is evaluated by means of an industrial and academic case study
Uncertainty-based decision-making in fire safety: Analyzing the alternatives
Large accidents throughout the 20th century marked the development of safety fields in engineering, devoted to better identify hazards, understand risks and properly manage them. As these fields evolved rather quickly and moved from a compliance to a risk-based approach, a significant delay in this transition was experienced in fire safety engineering (FSE). Devastating fires well into the 21st century and the restrictive nature of prescriptive codes signaled the need to transition towards a performance-based one. A performance-based approach provides flexibility and capitalizes on learning from accidental events and engineering disciplines such as process safety and FSE. This work provides an overview of the main alternatives to account for uncertainty in safety studies within the context of FSE, including traditional probabilistic analyses and emerging approaches such as strength of knowledge. A simple example is used to illustrate the impact of the uncertainty analysis on the results of a simple fire safety assessment. A structured evaluation is performed on each alternative to assess its ease of implementation and communication. The outcome is a compendium of advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives that constitute a toolbox for fire safety engineers to configure and use within their fire risk assessments. Process safety engineers are expected to gain an understanding of the similar and important challenges of FSE, being it directly relevant for process risk management and fire risk management in administrative buildings
Detection and Isolation of Small Faults in Lithium-Ion Batteries via the Asymptotic Local Approach
This contribution presents a diagnosis scheme for batteries to detect and
isolate internal faults in the form of small parameter changes. This scheme is
based on an electrochemical reduced-order model of the battery, which allows
the inclusion of physically meaningful faults that might affect the battery
performance. The sensitivity properties of the model are analyzed. The model is
then used to compute residuals based on an unscented Kalman filter. Primary
residuals and a limiting covariance matrix are obtained thanks to the local
approach, allowing for fault detection and isolation by chi-squared statistical
tests. Results show that faults resulting in limited 0.15% capacity and 0.004%
power fade can be effectively detected by the local approach. The algorithm is
also able to correctly isolate faults related with sensitive parameters,
whereas parameters with low sensitivity or linearly correlated are more
difficult to precise.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, conferenc
Formal Component-Based Semantics
One of the proposed solutions for improving the scalability of semantics of
programming languages is Component-Based Semantics, introduced by Peter D.
Mosses. It is expected that this framework can also be used effectively for
modular meta theoretic reasoning. This paper presents a formalization of
Component-Based Semantics in the theorem prover Coq. It is based on Modular
SOS, a variant of SOS, and makes essential use of dependent types, while
profiting from type classes. This formalization constitutes a contribution
towards modular meta theoretic formalizations in theorem provers. As a small
example, a modular proof of determinism of a mini-language is developed.Comment: In Proceedings SOS 2011, arXiv:1108.279
Linearization of CIF Through SOS
Linearization is the procedure of rewriting a process term into a linear
form, which consist only of basic operators of the process language. This
procedure is interesting both from a theoretical and a practical point of view.
In particular, a linearization algorithm is needed for the Compositional
Interchange Format (CIF), an automaton based modeling language.
The problem of devising efficient linearization algorithms is not trivial,
and has been already addressed in literature. However, the linearization
algorithms obtained are the result of an inventive process, and the proof of
correctness comes as an afterthought. Furthermore, the semantic specification
of the language does not play an important role on the design of the algorithm.
In this work we present a method for obtaining an efficient linearization
algorithm, through a step-wise refinement of the SOS rules of CIF. As a result,
we show how the semantic specification of the language can guide the
implementation of such a procedure, yielding a simple proof of correctness.Comment: In Proceedings EXPRESS 2011, arXiv:1108.407
Epidemiological patterns of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in highly endemic areas
This paper uses meta-analysis of published data and a deterministic mathematical model of hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission to describe the patterns of HBV infection in high endemicity areas. We describe the association between the prevalence of carriers and a simple measure of the rate of infection, the age at which half the population have been infected (A50), and assess the contribution of horizontal and perinatal transmission to this association. We found that the two main hyper-endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa and east Asia have similar prevalences of carriers and values of A50, and that there is a negative nonlinear relationship between A50 and the prevalence of carriers in high endemicity areas (Spearman's Rank, P = 0·0086). We quantified the risk of perinatal transmission and the age-dependent rate of infection to allow a comparison between the main hyper-endemic areas. East Asia was found to have higher prevalences of HBeAg positive mothers and a greater risk of perinatal transmission from HBeAg positive mothers than sub-Saharan Africa, though the differences were not statistically significant. However, the two areas have similar magnitudes and age-dependent rates of horizontal transmission. Results of a simple compartmental model suggest that similar rates of horizontal transmission are sufficient to generate the similar patterns between A50 and the prevalences of carriers. Interrupting horizontal transmission by mass immunization is expected to have a significant, nonlinear impact on the rate of acquisition of new carriers
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