Towards Test Purpose Generation from CTL Properties for Reactive Systems

This paper presents an approach for the generation of test purposes in the form of labelled transition systems from specifications of properties in CTL. The approach is aimed at adapting the model checking process, by extending search algorithms to perform further analysis so that examples and counter-examples can be extracted. An algorithm for the generation of test purposes through analysis over the examples and counter-examples is presented, along with a case study to show the correspondence between the CTL properties and the generated test purposes.     

SenToy in FantasyA: Designing an Affective Sympathetic Interface to a Computer Game

We describe the design process of an affective control toy, named SenToy, used to control a synthetic character in a computer game. SenToy allows players to influence the emotions of a synthetic character placed in FantasyA, a 3D virtual game. By expressing gestures associated with anger, fear, surprise, sadness and joy through SenToy, players influence the emotions of the character they control in the game. When designing SenToy we hypothesized that players would manipulate the toy to express emotions using a particular set of gestures. Those gestures were drawn from literature on how we express emotions through bodily movements and from emotion theories. To evaluate our idea we performed a Wizard Of Oz study [1]. The results of the study show that there are behaviours that players easily pick up for expressing emotions through the gestures with the toy, though not necessarily the ones extracted from literature. The study also provided some indication on what type of toy we should build, in particular, its ‘look and feel’. Correspondence to: Ms A. Paiva, IST & Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000 Lisboa, Portugal. Email: Ana.Paiva@inesc.pt     

Classes of Timed Automata and the Undecidability of Universality

Universality for deterministic Timed Automata (TA) is PSPACE-complete but becomes highly undecidable when unrestricted nondeterminism is allowed. More precisely, universality for nondeterministic TA is Π₁¹-hard and it is still open whether it is π₁¹-complete. It is interesting to note that the entire arithmetical hierarchy is contained in this computability gap between determinism and nondeterminism. In this paper we consider three types of syntactical restrictions to nondeterministic TA, which may contribute to a better understanding of the universality problem for TA. For the first two types, which are of independent interest, the universality problem is shown to be Π₁¹-complete. For the third one, universality is Π₁⁰-complete, which is the same as saying that the complementary problem is complete in the recursively enumerable class. We also show that all the restrictions define proper subclasses of the class of timed languages defined by nondeterministic TA; and establish the relationships between the classes.     

Efficacy evaluation of the molasses supplementation in normal and depleted rats diet

Molasses, a sugar cane by-product, has been consumed in Brazil since colonial times. The efficacy of molasses added to the diet of normal and depleted laboratory animals on growth and hemoglobin was tested. Forty weaning males rats, of 21 days of age, were divided into four groups of ten animals: Control (casein diet with 10.14% protein); Molasses (casein diet with 10.14% protein and 12.50% molasses); Depleted Control and Depleted Molasses, the later two submitted to protein depletion for the first 7 days of the trial. Animals were weighed at weaning (initial weight) and at the end of the experiment (final weight) and were fed the experimental rations and water ad libitum for 28 days (normal animals) and 21 days (depleted animals). Consumption was registered in order to calculate the Food Efficiency Ratio. At the end, animals fasted for 10 hours, killed and blood was collected by cardiac puncture to determine hemoglobin levels. Weight gain in all groups did not show statistically significant differences. Molasses fed animals presented a small, but not significant increase in hemoglobin levels, compared to the control groups. Considering the possible deleterious effects of a high sugar diet, that can originate furfural during food processing, it is necessary to conduct more studies to evaluate the utilization of these products for human consumption.     

Relapsed chronic myeloid leukemia in accelerated phase 10 years after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation: full chimera reconversion with donor peripheral blood stem cells infusion

The authors calculated the shunt revision rate for 77 consecutive patients with tumoural obstructive hydrocephalus. At a mean follow up of 23.7 months, the annual revision rate was 0.06 which is significantly lower than the annual revision rate of 0.39 for other hydrocephalic patients treated during the same period. Shunted patients who had total excision of their lesions had a significantly lower revision rate than patients who had a partial excision or a biopsy. It is therefore, suggested that cases with tumoural obstructive hydrocephalus may represent a subset of hydrocephalic patients who are associated with a relatively low risk of shunt complications. The observation has to be addressed when the role of endoscopic third ventriculostomy in these patients is being considered.     

Evaluation and optimization of chromium removal from tannery effluent by microemulsion in the Morris extractor

A multidisciplinary Road Accident Analysis Group with the objective of conducting in-depth investigations of specific types of accidents has existed in Denmark for some years. The group has analysed head-on collisions, left-turn accidents, truck accidents and single vehicle accidents. The data collection included police reports, the group's investigation of accident sites and vehicles involved, and interviews with the involved road users and witnesses. The main accident factors in the head-on collisions and in the single vehicle accidents were excessive speed, drunk driving and driving under the influence of illegal drugs. The primary accident factors in left-turn accidents were attention errors or misjudging the amount of time available to complete the left turn. In the truck accidents insufficient searching for visual information as well as speeding were major factors. For all the accident themes the primary injury factor was failure to wear seat- belts. The multidisciplinary approach has provided a rather precise knowledge of the contributing factors leading up to the accident. The method requires a lot of resources, which is a limiting factor for the number of accidents to be analysed in this way. However, the method is suitable for analysis of common occurring or very serious types of accidents.     

Mechanical wear behavior of nanocrystalline and multilayer diamond coatings on temporomandibular joint implants

We used microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition to deposit nanocrystalline and multilayer (nanocrystalline/microcrystalline/nanocrystalline) diamond thin films on Ti-6AI-4V substrates imitating the condyle and fossa components of the temporomandibular joint. We tested the condyle/fossa pairs for wear in a mandibular movement simulator for an equivalent of two years of clinical use. Analysis of the wear surfaces by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy showed that damage in both the films was minimal, no loss of film occurred and the wear performance was superior for the multilayer film. Comparisons with an uncoated condyle/fossa pair showed that the coated temporomandibular joint pairs had improved wear performance.     

Ultrasonic integrated backscatter coefficient profiling of human coronary arteries in vitro

A theoretical formulation for the profile of the integrated backscatter coefficient (IBC) is derived. This new formulation is based on a theoretical treatment. It includes correction for the diffraction of the ultrasonic beam and correction for the non-ideal nature of the reference signal. The inclusion of these correction factors permits accurate quantitative profiling of the IBC over the transducer focal zone. Experimental measurements are first performed on well-calibrated vessel-equivalent phantom materials and subsequently on human coronary arteries in vitro. A spherically focused 50.0 MHz f/1.83 transducer is used. IBC profiles are shown for three samples that are representative of early, mid, and advanced atherosclerotic coronary disease. The IBC profiles clearly differentiate the arterial tissues. However, variation between samples with histologically confirmed intimal thickening (N=24) was large. The mean IBC (±1 standard deviation), in (Sr.mm)^-1, for media, adventitia, and thickened intima were 3.86×10^-3, 1.53×10^-2, and 2.24×10^-2, respectively. The mean IBC of thickened intima is larger than previous measurements obtained from femoral arteries, and the mean IBC for media and adventitia layers are lower, reflecting differences in tissue composition between coronary and femoral vessels