Two CEGAR-based approaches for the safety verification of PLC-controlled plants

In this paper we address the safety analysis of chemical plants controlled by programmable logic controllers (PLCs). We consider a specification of the control program of the PLCs, extended with the specification of the dynamic plant behavior. The resulting hybrid models can be transformed to hybrid automata, for which advanced techniques for reachability analysis exist. However, the hybrid automata models are often too large to be analyzed. We propose two counterexample-guided abstraction refinement (CEGAR) approaches to keep the size of the hybrid models moderate.     

Discriminating Conduct: Deploying Systems to Support Awareness in Organizations

Alongside the emergence of the use of fieldwork studies for design there has been a discussion on how best these studies can inform system development. Concerns have been expressed as to whether their most appropriate contribution is a list of requirements or design recommendations. This article explores a recurrent issue that has emerged from fieldwork studies in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, awareness, and with respect to a particular system development project discusses some of the implications for the development and deployment of one particular kind of technology—image recognition systems—in particular, organizational settings. In the setting in question—surveillance centers or operations rooms—staff utilize a range of practices to maintain awareness. Rather than extending field studies so that they can better assist design, it may be considered how workplace studies can contribute to a respecification of key concepts, like awareness, that are critical to an understanding of how technologies are used and deployed in everyday environments.     

One-Way Functions Using Algorithmic and Classical Information Theories

We prove several results relating injective one-way functions, time-bounded conditional Kolmogorov complexity, and time-bounded conditional entropy. First we establish a connection between injective, strong and weak one-way functions and the expected value of the polynomial time-bounded Kolmogorov complexity, denoted here by?E(K ^t (x|f(x))). These results are in both directions. More precisely, conditions on?E(K ^t (x|f(x))) that imply that?f is a weak one-way function, and properties of?E(K ^t (x|f(x))) that are implied by the fact that?f is a strong one-way function. In particular, we prove a separation result: based on the concept of time-bounded Kolmogorov complexity, we find an interval in which every function?f is a necessarily weak but not a strong one-way function. Then we propose an individual approach to injective one-way functions based on Kolmogorov complexity, defining Kolmogorov one-way functions and prove some relationships between the new proposal and the classical definition of one-way functions, showing that a Kolmogorov one-way function is also a deterministic one-way function. A relationship between Kolmogorov one-way functions and the conjecture of polynomial time symmetry of information is also proved. Finally, we relate?E(K ^t (x|f(x))) and two forms of time-bounded entropy, the unpredictable entropy?H ^unp, in which ??one-wayness?? of a function can be easily expressed, and the Yao⁺ entropy, a measure based on compression/decompression schema in which only the decompressor is restricted to be time-bounded.     

Examining the dimensionality of genuine multipartite entanglement

Entanglement in high-dimensional many-body systems plays an increasingly vital role in the foundations and applications of quantum physics. In the present paper, we introduce a theoretical concept which allows to categorize multipartite states by the number of degrees of freedom being entangled. In this regard, we derive computable and experimentally friendly criteria for arbitrary multipartite qudit systems that enable to examine in how many degrees of freedom a mixed state is genuine multipartite entangled.     

A general topology-based framework for adaptive insertion of cohesive elements in finite element meshes

Large-scale simulation of separation phenomena in solids such as fracture, branching, and fragmentation requires a scalable data structure representation of the evolving model. Modeling of such phenomena can be successfully accomplished by means of cohesive models of fracture, which are versatile and effective tools for computational analysis. A common approach to insert cohesive elements in finite element meshes consists of adding discrete special interfaces (cohesive elements) between bulk elements. The insertion of cohesive elements along bulk element interfaces for fragmentation simulation imposes changes in the topology of the mesh. This paper presents a unified topology-based framework for supporting adaptive fragmentation simulations, being able to handle two- and three-dimensional models, with finite elements of any order. We represent the finite element model using a compact and “complete” topological data structure, which is capable of retrieving all adjacency relationships needed for the simulation. Moreover, we introduce a new topology-based algorithm that systematically classifies fractured facets (i.e., facets along which fracture has occurred). The algorithm follows a set of procedures that consistently perform all the topological changes needed to update the model. The proposed topology-based framework is general and ensures that the model representation remains always valid during fragmentation, even when very complex crack patterns are involved. The framework correctness and efficiency are illustrated by arbitrary insertion of cohesive elements in various finite element meshes of self-similar geometries, including both two- and three-dimensional models. These computational tests clearly show linear scaling in time, which is a key feature of the present data-structure representation. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is also demonstrated by dynamic fracture analysis through finite element simulations of actual engineering problems.

单体型组装问题计算模型的比较与分析

单体型检测在遗传病基因的定位、药理反应的研究、个体识别等方面有极其广阔的应用前景。单体型组装问题指如何利用个体的基因测序片断数据,根据不同的优化准则确定该个体单体型的计算问题。对MSR,MFR,MEC,WMLF,MEC／GI等单体型组装模型做了详细的分析比较,得出了如下结论：在没有引入测序误差情况下,上述模型的重构精度基本一致。随着测序误差的增加,MEC／GI模型的容错性最好,重构精度最高;MSR模型受测序误差的影响最大,只适用于测序误差极小的情形。     

Forward scattering of a Gaussian beam by a nonabsorbing sphere

The forward scattering of a Gaussian laser beam by a spherical particle located along the beam axis is analyzed with the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory (GLMT) and with diffraction theory. Forwardscattering and near-forward-scattering profiles from electrodynamically levitated droplets, 51.6 μm in diameter, are also presented and compared with GLMT-based predictions. The total intensity in the forward direction, formed by the superposition of the incident and the scattered fields, is found to correlate with the particle-extinction cross section, the particle diameter, and the beam width. Based on comparison with the GLMT, the diffraction solution is accurate when beam widths that are approximately greater than or equal to the particle diameter are considered and when large particles that have an extinction efficiency near the asymptotic value of 2 are considered. However, diffraction fails to describe the forward intensity for more tightly focused beams. The experimental observations, which are in good agreement with GLMT-based predictions, reveal that the total intensity profile about the forward direction is quite sensitive to particle axial position within a Gaussian beam. These finite beam effects are significant when the ratio of the beam to the particle diameter is less than approximately 5:1. For larger beam-to-particle-diameter ratios, the total field in the forward direction is dominated by the incident beam.