Concurrent Program Verification with Invariant-Guided Underapproximation

Automatic verification of concurrent programs written in low-level languages like ANSI-C is an important task as multi-core architectures are gaining widespread adoption. Formal verification, although very valuable for this domain, rapidly runs into the state-explosion problem due to multiple thread interleavings. Recently, Bounded Model Checking (BMC) has been used for this purpose, which does not scale in practice. In this work, we develop a method to further constrain the search space for BMC techniques using underapproximations of data flow of shared memory and lazy demand-driven refinement of the approximation. A novel contribution of our method is that our underapproximation is guided by likely data-flow invariants mined from dynamic analysis and our refinement is based on proof-based learning. We have implemented our method in a prototype tool. Initial experiments on benchmark examples show potential performance benefit

Attention and early childhood education.

Informed by Iris Murdoch’s concept of attention, this thesis argues that economic and scientistic discourses within early childhood education misrepresent and neglect essential moral aspects of pedagogy. Early childhood education is built on particulars, the small and incremental attentive moments between individuals. Attention, described by Murdoch as ‘a just and loving gaze directed upon an individual reality’, improves the moral imagination and enhances the ability of teachers to see and respond to individual children in educational settings. The concept of attention is utilised to critique neoliberal approaches to early childhood education and to question the increasing application of neuroscientific explanations of the child in educational policy and pedagogical practice. Standardisation, objective empiricism, and limited measurements of teachers and children are problematised for the ways in which they attempt to delineate ‘fact’ from ‘value’. Attention fosters a critical understanding of how teachers’ everyday pedagogical practices can be appreciated as an ‘inhabited’ philosophy of education. Attention is explored in relation to the Māori concept of aroha. Aroha, as a generous direction of focus to the divine breath within another being, is helpful in developing a deeper understanding of attention. Together, aroha and attention prove synergistic in efforts to promote an approach to education that moves beyond the empirical, quantifiable and scientific. Together, these concepts support another way of understanding the ‘intentional’ teacher through acknowledging the importance of intuition in paying attention to children. Underpinned by humility, aroha and attention are orientations to life that see education as a moral and ethical undertaking. Seen in this light, education informs rather than limits rational investigation

Investigation of the presence of human or bovine respiratory syncytial virus in the lungs of mink (Neovison vison) with hemorrhagic pneumonia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hemorrhagic pneumonia is a disease of farmed mink (<it>Neovison vison</it>) caused by <it>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</it>. The disease is highly seasonal in Danish mink with outbreaks occurring almost exclusively in the autumn. Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been shown to augment infection with <it>P. aeruginosa</it> in mice and to promote adhesion of <it>P. aeruginosa</it> to human respiratory cells.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We tested 50 lung specimens from mink with hemorrhagic pneumonia for bovine RSV by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and for human RSV by a commercial real-time PCR. RSV was not found.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study indicates that human and bovine RSV is not a major co-factor for development of hemorrhagic pneumonia in Danish mink.</p

Fractional mathematical model of Listeria infection caused by pre-cooked package food

This article introduces a novel mathematical approach for modeling and analyzing Listeria infection dynamics by considering a system of fractional-order differential equations to understand the complexities. The homotopy perturbation general transform method (HPGTM) is applied to derive approximate solutions for the fractional-order Listeria infection model to obtain valuable insights. The obtained numerical and graphical solutions are rigorously analyzed to explore the effect of fractional orders on the dynamics of Listeria infections. Furthermore, we explore the existence, uniqueness, and stability properties of the solutions, unveiling the critical parameters influencing infection spread and persistence

Carpal tunnel syndrome caused by cysticercosis

We present a case of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) due to compression of the median nerve within the carpal tunnel, caused by cysticercosis. Nerve conduction studies revealed severe CTS. Magnetic resonance imaging suggested an inflammatory mass compressing the median nerve in carpal tunnel. The histological diagnosis was consistent with cysticercosis. The case resolved with conservative treatment. Such solitary presentation of entrapment median neuropathy as CTS caused by cysticercosis is extremely rare. To our knowledge, this is the only case of its kind reported in literature till date

Acquired tracheo-oesophageal fistula.

Acquired tracheo-oesophageal fistula is rare. The most common causes are tuberculosis and malignancy. Here we report a patient who had come with dysphagia and aspiration pneumonia with paratracheal lymphnodes on X-ray chest and was diagnosed to have a tracheo-bronchial fistula on barium studies. Transtumoral intubation by pull-through method was carried out