Interface Simulation Distances

The classical (boolean) notion of refinement for behavioral interfaces of system components is the alternating refinement preorder. In this paper, we define a distance for interfaces, called interface simulation distance. It makes the alternating refinement preorder quantitative by, intuitively, tolerating errors (while counting them) in the alternating simulation game. We show that the interface simulation distance satisfies the triangle inequality, that the distance between two interfaces does not increase under parallel composition with a third interface, and that the distance between two interfaces can be bounded from above and below by distances between abstractions of the two interfaces. We illustrate the framework, and the properties of the distances under composition of interfaces, with two case studies.Comment: In Proceedings GandALF 2012, arXiv:1210.202

Regression-free Synthesis for Concurrency

While fixing concurrency bugs, program repair algorithms may introduce new concurrency bugs. We present an algorithm that avoids such regressions. The solution space is given by a set of program transformations we consider in for repair process. These include reordering of instructions within a thread and inserting atomic sections. The new algorithm learns a constraint on the space of candidate solutions, from both positive examples (error-free traces) and counterexamples (error traces). From each counterexample, the algorithm learns a constraint necessary to remove the errors. From each positive examples, it learns a constraint that is necessary in order to prevent the repair from turning the trace into an error trace. We implemented the algorithm and evaluated it on simplified Linux device drivers with known bugs.Comment: for source code see https://github.com/thorstent/ConRepai

Examination of smears for tubercle bacilli by Fluorescence Microscopy

IN underdeveloped countries, laboratory facilities for the bacteriological diagnosis of tuberculosis are at present, very limited. Cultural methods are unlikely to be used on a large scale for many years to come. It is, therefore, important to investigate the most economical method of examining smears for tubercle bacilli. Fluorescence microscopy was introduced by Hagemann (1937) and has since been described by many authors, including Tanner (1941, 1948), Lind and Shaughnessy (1941), Lempert (1944), Norman and Jelks (1945), Clegg and Foster-Carter (1946), Wilson (1952), Von Haebler and Murray (1954), and Needham (1957). The great advantage claimed for this method is that stained bacilli can be detected using a much lower magnification than with the usual Ziehl-Neelsen method. Considerable time is saved in examining smears and larger areas can be searched. The method has not been widely employed for two reasons. In the first place, the light source must be very bright and many of the optical systems described previously have only supplied sufficient light if the equipment was used in a darkened room. Secondly, some workers (Ritterhoff and Bowman, 1945; Kuster, 1939; Holm and Plum, 1943) consider that false positive results can be obtained, since some smears may contain small naturally fluorescent particles which can be confused with bacilli. Equipment for fluorescence microscopy that can be used in normal daylight has been in use at the Tuberculosis Chemotherapy Centre, Madras, for over two years. When it was first introduced, a comparison between this method and the conventional Ziehl-Neelsen method was undertaken to test their relative sensitivities, and to see whether fluorescence microscopy yielded false positive results. The results of this comparison are described

Ru(III)-catalysed oxidation of some N-heterocycles by chloramine-T in hydrochloric acid medium: A kinetic and mechanistic study

The kinetics of the ruthenium(III) chloride (Ru(III))-catalysed oxidation of five N-heterocycles (S) viz. imidazole (IzlH), benzimidazole (BzlH), 2-hydroxybenzimidazole (2-HyBzlH), 2-aminobenzimidazole (2-AmBzlH) and 2-phenylbenzimidazole (2-PhBzlH) by sodium-N-chloro-p-toluenesulfonamide (chloramine-T; CAT) in the presence of HCl has been studied at 313 K. The oxidation reaction follows the identical kinetics for all the five N-heterocycles and obeys the rate law, rate = k CAT0 S 0 x H+y Ru(III)z, where x, y and z are less than unity. Addition of p-toluenesulfonamide (PTS) retards the reaction rate. Variation of ionic strength of the medium and the addition of halide ions show negligible effect on the rate of the reaction. The rate was found to increase in D2O medium and showed positive dielectric effect. The reaction products are identified. The rates are measured at different temperatures for all substrates and the composite activation parameters have been computed from the Arrhenius plots. From enthalpy-entropy relationships and Exner correlations, the calculated isokinetic temperature (β) of 392 K is much higher than the experimental temperature (313 K), indicating that, the rate has been under enthalpy control. Relative reactivity of these substrates are in the order: 2-HyBzlH > 2-AmBzlH > BzlH > IzlH > 2-PhBzlH. This trend may be attributed to resonance and inductive effects. Further, the kinetics of Ru(III)-catalysed oxidation of these N-heterocycles have been compared with uncatalysed reactions (in the absence of Ru(III) catalyst) and found that the catalysed reactions are 16-20 times faster. The catalytic constant (KC) was also calculated for each substrate at different temperatures. From the plots of log KC versus 1/T, values of activation parameters with respect to the catalyst have been evaluated. H2O+Cl has been postulated as the reactive oxidizing species. The reaction mechanism and the derived rate law are consistent with the observed experimental results. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Generalized small-signal modelling of dual active bridge DC/DC converter

this paper presents a novel generalised approach of the small-signal modelling of dual active bridge (DAB) DC/DC converter. The adopted analysis is based on a per-unit fundamental frequency representation of the DAB. The outcome of the proposed modelling approach is a small signal, linearised, state-space DAB model; which is considered as a main building block for future control applications. The developed small signal DAB model includes all possible degrees of freedom affecting the performance of the DAB; this includes the voltage conversion ratio to allow the study of all DAB operation modes (i.e.: unity-gain and buck/boost modes.). Furthermore, since triple phase shift control (TPS) is used in this development work, the proposed model incorporates phase shift in addition to duty ratios. This feature allows for bridge voltage regulation, which is essential for efficient DAB operation in the case of buck/boost operation. Another key achievement is that the proposed small signal modelling methodology can be applied to any bidirectional DC-DC converter regardless of ratings, parameter values and number of ports. Extensive simulation is carried out to verify the proposed analysis

The Influence of High-Energy Lithium Ion Irradiation on Electrical Characteristics of Silicon and GaAs Solar Cells

Space-grade Si and GaAs solar cells were irradiated with 15 & 40 MeV Li ions. Illuminated (AM0 condition) and unilluminated I-V curves reveal that the effect of high-energy Li ion irradiation has produced similar effects to that of proton irradiation. However, an additional, and different, defect mechanism is suggested to dominate in the heavier-ion results. Comparison is made with proton-irradiated solar-cell work and with non-ionizing energy-loss (NIEL) radiation-damage models.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures, Data presented at 2006 NSREC, Final Version to be published in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 53, NO. 6, December 2006. Index Terms: GaAs, Ion-irradiation, Lithium, NIEL, Photovoltaic cells, Radiation effects, Silico

Controlled periodic illumination in semiconductor photocatalysis

Controlled periodic illumination is a hypothesis postulated in the early 1990s for enhancing the efficiency of semiconductor photocatalytic reactions. This technique has been proposed to improve photocatalytic efficiency by the nature of photon introduction alone. Before its application in semiconductor photocatalysis, controlled periodic illumination had been investigated in other fields including photosynthesis. This paper presents a detailed review of the state of the art research undertaken on the application of controlled periodic illumination in semiconductor photocatalysis. The review briefly introduces semiconductor photocatalysis, and then presents a detailed explanation of this technique, its importance to photocatalytic efficiency, an overview of previous results of its application in significant studies and present knowledge. Results from previous as well as some of the most recent studies indicate potential applications of controlled periodic illumination in areas other than just the improvement of the efficiency of the photocatalytic process

A qualitative test for the determination of isoniazid acetylator phenotype

A qualitative test procedure for phenotyping isoniazid acetylators is described. It is based on a colour reaction which depends on the free sulphadimidine content in the total urine excreted over any one-hour period between 21 and 26 hours following a dose of sulphadimidine 1.0 or 1.5 g. depending on body-weight. The test correctly classified 96 per cent of 109 slow and 96 per cent of 68 rapid inactivators. Storage of urine samples at room-temperature up to 14 days did not affect the accuracy of the results

Magnetic studies of Bi x Y3-x Fe5O12 fabricated using conventional method

A series of Bi substituted yttrium iron garnet (Bi-YIG) nanoparticles with nominal formula of BixY3 − xFe5O12 in which x varied in steps of 0.0, 0.25 and 0.5 are prepared by conventional method. Vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) at Room temperature (RT) shows saturation magnetization decreases from 27.4 to 25.2 (emu/g) as x value increases from 0.0 to 0.5. Room temperature 57Fe Mössbauer spectra are recorded for these series. The hyperfine field value for octahedral and tetrahedral of samples increases from 484 and 390 kOe to 491 and 397 kOe respectability, as Bi replaces Y in (BixY3 − xFe5O12) atom with increasing x value. The effect of Bi3 +  substitution for Y3 +  on lattice constants, morphology and magnetic properties of pure YIG has been investigated

Determination of Acetylator Phenotype Based on the Ratio of Acetylisoniazid to Isoniazid in Urine Following an Oral Dose of Ordinary Isoniazid

A simple method for classifying subjects as slow or rapid inactivators of isoniazid has been described. A uniform dose of 300 mg. of ordinary isoniazid was administered orally to 150 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The ratio of acetylisoniazid to isoniazid was determined in urine collected at hourly intervals from 4 to 8 h. At each hour the distribution of the ratios was clearly bimodal. The test based on the 5-6 h. urine collection is recommended for its convenience and excellent discrimination between slow and rapid inactivators. The agreement between this method and a ‘standard method was of the order of 97 per cent