Formal Methods Research Articles

A data-driven approach to choosing privacy parameters for clinical trial data sharing under differential privacy.

Clinical trial data sharing is crucial for promoting transparency and collaborative efforts in medical research. Differential privacy (DP) is a formal statistical technique for anonymizing shared data that balances privacy of individual records and accuracy of replicated results through a "privacy budget" parameter, ε. DP is considered the state of the art in privacy-protected data publication and is underutilized in clinical trial data sharing. This study is focused on identifying ε values for the sharing of clinical trial data. We analyzed 2 clinical trial datasets with privacy budget ε ranging from 0.01 to 10. Smaller values of ε entail adding greater amounts of random noise, with better privacy as a result. Comparison of rates, odds ratios, means, and mean differences between the original clinical trial datasets and the empirical distribution of the DP estimator was performed. The DP rate closely approximated the original rate of 6.5% when ε > 1. The DP odds ratio closely aligned with the original odds ratio of 0.689 when ε ≥ 3. The DP mean closely approximated the original mean of 164.64 when ε ≥ 1. As ε increased to 5, both the minimum and maximum DP means converged toward the original mean. There is no consensus on how to choose the privacy budget ε. The definition of DP does not specify the required level of privacy, and there is no established formula for determining ε. Our findings suggest that the application of DP holds promise in the context of sharing clinical trial data.

Detection of nitric oxide-mediated metabolic effects using real-time extracellular flux analysis.

Dendritic cell (DC) activation is marked by key events including: (I) rapid induction and shifting of metabolism favoring glycolysis for generation of biosynthetic metabolic intermediates and (II) large scale changes in gene expression including the upregulation of the antimicrobial enzyme inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) which produces the toxic gas nitric oxide (NO). Historically, acute metabolic reprogramming and NO-mediated effects on cellular metabolism have been studied at specific timepoints during the DC activation process, namely at times before and after NO production. However, no formal method of real time detection of NO-mediated effects on DC metabolism have been fully described. Here, using Real-Time Extracellular Flux Analysis, we experimentally establish the phenomenon of an NO-dependent mitochondrial respiration threshold, which shows how titration of an activating stimulus is inextricably linked to suppression of mitochondrial respiration in an NO-dependent manner. As part of this work, we explore the efficacy of two different iNOS inhibitors in blocking the iNOS reaction kinetically in real time and explore/discuss parameters and considerations for application using Real Time Extracellular Flux Analysis technology. In addition, we show, the temporal relationship between acute metabolic reprogramming and NO-mediated sustained metabolic reprogramming kinetically in single real-time assay. These findings provide a method for detection of NO-mediated metabolic effects in DCs and offer novel insight into the timing of the DC activation process with its associated key metabolic events, revealing a better understanding of the nuances of immune cell biology.

Patient and Public Involvement in Technology-Related Dementia Research: Scoping Review.

Technology-related research on people with dementia and their carers often aims to enable people to remain living at home for longer and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions. To develop person-centered, effective, and ethical research, patient and public involvement (PPI) is necessary, although it may be perceived as more difficult with this cohort. With recent and rapid expansions in health and care-related technology, this review explored how and with what impact collaborations between researchers and stakeholders such as people with dementia and their carers have taken place. This review aims to describe approaches to PPI used to date in technology-related dementia research, along with the barriers and facilitators and impact of PPI in this area. A scoping review of literature related to dementia, technology, and PPI was conducted using MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, and CINAHL. Papers were screened for inclusion by 2 authors. Data were then extracted using a predesigned data extraction table by the same 2 authors. A third author supported the resolution of any conflicts at each stage. Barriers to and facilitators of undertaking PPI were then examined and themed. The search yielded 1694 papers, with 31 (1.83%) being analyzed after screening. Most (21/31, 68%) did not make clear distinctions between activities undertaken as PPI and those undertaken by research participants, and as such, their involvement did not fit easily into the National Institute for Health and Care Research definition of PPI. Most of this mixed involvement focused on reviewing or evaluating technology prototypes. A range of approaches were described, most typically using focus groups or co-design workshops. In total, 29% (9/31) described involvement at multiple stages throughout the research cycle, sometimes with evidence of sharing decision-making power. Some (23/31, 74%) commented on barriers to or facilitators of effective PPI. The challenges identified often regarded issues of working with people with significant cognitive impairments and pressures on time and resources. Where reported, the impact of PPI was largely reported as positive, including the experiences for patient and public partners, the impact on research quality, and the learning experience it provided for researchers. Only 4 (13%) papers used formal methods for evaluating impact. Researchers often involve people with dementia and other stakeholders in technology research. At present, involvement is often limited in scope despite aspirations for high levels of involvement and partnership working. Involving people with dementia, their carers, and other stakeholders can have a positive impact on research, patient and public partners, and researchers. Wider reporting of methods and facilitative strategies along with more formalized methods for recording and reporting on meaningful impact would be helpful so that all those involved-researchers, patients, and other stakeholders-can learn how we can best conduct research together.

The importance of recovery and staffing on midwives’ emotional wellbeing: A UK national survey

BackgroundThere is currently a gap in the evidence on how working practices, such as the ability to take rest breaks, finish on time or intershift recovery influence outcomes. AimThe aim of this study was to explore the association of individual characteristics, work-related factors and working practices on emotional wellbeing outcomes of UK midwives. MethodsAn online cross-sectional survey collated data between September and October 2020. Outcomes explored were work-related stress, burnout, being pleased with their standard of care, job satisfaction and thoughts about leaving midwifery. Univariate analysis identified the explanatory variables to be investigated using multivariable logistic regression. FindingsA total of 2347 midwives from the four UK nations completed the survey. No standard approach in monitoring safe staffing or in-shift or intershift recovery was found. There were high levels of work-related stress, burnout and thoughts about leaving midwifery, and low levels of job satisfaction, with just half of midwives reporting they were satisfied with the standard of care they could provide. Multivariable regression revealed that working practices variables, generally related to impeded recovery or compounded by staffing issues, had a significant association with poorer emotional wellbeing outcomes. ConclusionThis research has demonstrated an association between impeded recovery, including a lack of formal methods to monitor this, and poorer emotional wellbeing outcomes, and that staffing levels are highly influential in determining outcomes. There is a need to re-evaluate current approaches to job design and how midwives are expected to work.

Results of an interlaboratory study on the working curve in vat photopolymerization

The working curve informs resin properties and print parameters for stereolithography, digital light processing, and other photopolymer additive manufacturing (PAM) technologies. First demonstrated in 1992, the working curve measurement of cure depth vs radiant exposure of light is now a foundational measurement in the field of PAM. Despite its widespread use in industry and academia, there is no formal method or procedure for performing the working curve measurement, raising questions about the utility of reported working curve parameters. Here, an interlaboratory study (ILS) is described in which 24 individual laboratories performed a working curve measurement on an aliquot from a single batch of PAM resin. The ILS reveals that there is enormous scatter in the working curve data and the key fit parameters derived from it. The measured depth of light penetration Dp varied by as much as 7x between participants, while the critical radiant exposure for gelation Ec varied by as much as 70x. This significant scatter is attributed to a lack of common procedure, variation in light engines, epistemic uncertainties from the Jacobs equation, and the use of measurement tools with insufficient precision. The ILS findings highlight an urgent need for procedural standardization and better hardware characterization in this rapidly growing field.

Genealogy, discourse and the "death of the author" as figures of poetics in the novel by Mark Z. Danilevsky's "House of Leaves".

The object of research of this article is a novel by Mark Z. Danilevsky's "House of Leaves" in the context of postmodernism. The subject of the research is some concepts of the theory of poststructuralism – discourse, genealogy, "death of the author" – implemented in the work "House of Leaves" through reductive, metaphorical or allusive implantation into the fabric of the novel. A general analysis is given and the problem of the correlation between the theories of poststructuralism and postmodernism is outlined. The selection and analysis of theoretical works on a given problem has been carried out, and working concepts have been formulated, used as tools for analyzing forms, figures of poetics, as well as for interpreting the novel "House of Leaves".As a consequence, the article presents a detailed description of one of the sides of the artistic method of Mark Z. Danilevsky (the use of poststructuralism theories as a figure of novel poetics), which allows us to judge the techniques and means of artistic expression that determined the form of the novel. In this regard, the article discusses the so-called "form effects", for example: synchrony, the capture of a real figure by a simulacrum, the creation of genealogical–artistic images, the establishment of a special time mode – "simultaneity", etc. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that we have considered the interpretation of the work from the point of view of poststructuralism theories, as a result of which new formal techniques and mechanisms of their use in the creation of a work of art have been revealed.

On the need to use baby boxes in Russia and other countries

The subject of this study is the normative legal provisions of the application and functioning of baby boxes on the territory of various states. The object is the social and legal justification of the need in the modern world for the use of baby boxes in the context of the implementation of the constitutional principle of the child's right to life. Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the inalienable and inalienable right of every human being to life, and, of course, this requirement fully applies to every child. Moreover, the principle has been proclaimed at the international legal level, according to which the child is the exclusive object of protection by any state in the world and society: for example, in part 2 of Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is enshrined that infancy and childhood give the right to special care and care. The methodological basis of this study is represented by a set of such methods of scientific cognition of objective legal reality, applied during preparation and writing, as: comparative analysis, as well as the formal legal method. In addition, the methods of scientific cognition of objective legal reality used by the author also include the logical method, system-structural analysis, and the method of legal modeling. The author analyzes the main social and legal reasons for the emergence and spread of the practice of using baby boxes in a number of foreign countries and in certain regions of Russia. Ambiguous points of view on the need for legal regulation and practice of using baby boxes in Russia are also presented today at the doctrinal level: some authors talk about the expediency and effectiveness of their use, others note their uselessness and insecurity, pointing to the existence of other mechanisms for voluntary parental abandonment of newborn children established by law. In the course of the analysis, the author presents the reasons for the need to introduce the practice of using baby boxes both in the Russian Federation and in other countries, and as a result, this entails the need for legislative regulation of the relations in question.

Forms of organization of people as a primary stage in relations with the state

The article analyzes the legal and organizational foundations of interaction between public authorities and people. Local self-government is considered as a modern and most important form of organizing the activities of people, since it is the type of public authority closest to the population and is designed to solve issues of local importance in a particular territory. The subject of the study is the problems of interaction between public authorities and people due to the fact that at the present stage in our country there is an urgent demand for direct participation of people in solving issues of local importance, since active participation of people in the field is necessary to solve national issues. The methodological basis was general scientific and special research methods: formal legal, systemic, comparative legal analysis. For example, the formal legal method made it possible to analyze the main forms of local self-government, and the comparative legal method helped to conduct a comparative analysis of the forms of direct implementation of local self-government and forms of public participation in the implementation of local self-government. The purpose of the work is achieved by identifying and analyzing current problems of interaction between public authorities and people. Result of the research that not all forms of interaction between public authorities and people are equally effective. Some of them are outdated. The article concludes that there is a need for priority interaction of public authorities with people to resolve issues of local importance, as well as that it is the forms of organization of people that are the primary link in relations with the state. The authorities need to involve people in the development of territories and solving problems, interacting in various forms and implementing the most successful practices of the regions everywhere.

The Construction and Definition Problems Surrounding the Political and Legal Ideal

The subject of this study is the concept of “political and legal ideal.” Guided by current statistical data and international research results, it is substantiated that the models of state development used in the world have turned out to be untenable. The consequence of this circumstance is the need for legal science to develop new approaches to improving social relations. A political and legal ideal can serve this purpose. Based on the study of legal doctrine and modern scientific works, the author has attempted to analyze the concept of the “political and legal ideal” and propose a possible way to construct it. The methodological basis of the work consists of a systematic approach, analysis, synthesis, dialectical method, eclectic method, formal legal method, and the method of state-legal modeling. Statistical and sociological methods are also applied to use factual data about society. The author’s unique contribution to the study of the topic is forming a new approach to understanding the political and legal ideal and its construction. When forming theoretical provisions that make up the content of the political and legal ideal, it is proposed to consider three groups of mandatory consistent patterns. The first and foremost group is characteristic of any state, the second is only for a group of states united by a common goal, and the third is patterns that are exclusive to a specific state. In addition, the content of the created model must reflect the immanence of contradictions in society and form a mechanism for their resolution. The approach presented by the author can serve as the basis for further improvement of the theory of the political and legal ideal, as well as contribute to the development of the most necessary effective legal solutions on the part of the state.

Stochastic models of work and rest schedules

Purpose. To develop stochastic models for determining the duration of work and rest schedules that ensure protection of workers from occupational hazards and a high level of labor productivity during a work shift. Methodology. Analysis of scientific literature was applied to determine the purpose and tasks of the research; methods of formalization – to describe the characteristics, dynamics and states of random processes of accumulation and elimination of the consequences of the negative impact of harmful production factors occurring in an worker within the work and rest schedules; methods of semi-Markov processes theory, theories of reliability and recovery – to build stochastic models of work and rest schedules, determine the conditions and probability of a stable mode of their operation. Findings. Stochastic models were developed to determine the duration of work schedules, at the end of which the level of accumulation of the consequences of the negative impact of harmful production factors in the worker will not exceed the set maximum permissible values with a high probability. And such durations of rest schedules, at the end of which this level will be equal to zero (also with a high probability). The condition for ensuring the stable operation of these schedules throughout the entire period of work experience at the workplace was determined by the author. Originality. For the first time an approach to the development of work and rest schedules at workplaces is proposed, which, contrary to others, is based on determining the probabilities of the levels of accumulation of the consequences of the negative impact of harmful production factors in the worker at the end of these schedules, given the actual random and dynamic characteristics of such impact. This, in turn, allows ensuring the protection of the worker both from accidents caused by the fatigue and from professional illness. Practical value. The proposed approach allows increasing the economic efficiency of the enterprise by ensuring a high level of labor productivity, which is achieved by simultaneous development of the maximum possible duration of work and the minimum possible duration of rest schedules, which exclude the worker’s development and occurrence of fatigue and professional illness with a high probability.

Observational equivalence and security games: Enhancing the formal analysis of security protocols

The formal analysis of security protocols uses abstract language to describe the security protocols, and current protocol descriptions sometimes overlook the security aspects related to cryptographic primitives. In this study, we integrate the security notions of cryptographic primitives with formal methods. Particularly, we use observational equivalence to create security games within the symbolic model. This innovative approach allows for the automation of security detection for cryptographic primitives within the symbolic model. In addition, we have designed and implemented various cryptographic primitives that satisfy different security properties and detect them with our developed security games. The results confirm the effectiveness of our security games. It is worth mentioning that the cryptographic primitives and the characterization of adversary capabilities discussed in this paper can be extended to the formal analysis of other protocols. The ultimate goal is to relax the assumption of perfect encryption and narrow the gap between the formal analysis of security protocols and the real world.

Combating plastic pollution in international law: <i>lex lata</i> and <i>lex ferenda</i>

INTRODUCTION. Global plastic production has increased from 1.5 million tons in 1950 to 390 million tons in 2021, of which only 9 % was recycled, 19 % was incinerated, almost 50 % was disposed of in landfills and 22 % was dumped in landfills, where this waste could be openly burned or released back into the environment. Plastics have changed the global economy and the lives of billions of people for the better. However, their use comes with significant environmental and social costs. Plastic waste negatively affects human health and the environment. The life cycle of plastics covers the entire spectrum of activities, from raw material extraction, production, distribution, use, to disposal as waste, and environmental problems can arise at any stage of the plastic life cycle. Most plastic degrades very slowly in the environment. There are currently a number of international commitments to reduce marine litter and plastic waste, particularly from land-based sources, and several applicable international agreements and soſt law instruments related to trade in plastics or reducing impacts on marine life. However, none of the international documents provides a global, mandatory, specific and measurable target to reduce plastic pollution. In this regard, many states, as well as commercial actors and civil society, are calling for the adoption of a global instrument to regulate marine pollution from litter and plastics. In this article, significant attention is paid to the analysis of a future treaty aimed at combating plastic pollution.MATERIALS AND METHODS. This study is based on the analysis of a large volume of materials, including international legal acts, advisory acts, as well as modern doctrinal studies by Russian and foreign authors. The methodological basis of the study was general scientific (method of logical and system analysis, dialectical method, methods of deduction and induction) and special scientific (historical-legal, comparative-legal, formal legal methods, method of legal modeling and forecasting) methods of cognition.RESEARCH RESULTS. In the course of the study, various international acts of a mandatory and recommendatory nature were analyzed, the doctrinal positions set out in the scientific literature, put forward by domestic and foreign legal scholars, were summarized, and the main problems of combating plastic pollution were identified.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. Within the framework of this article, an attempt has been made to give answers to the following questions: to what extent the problem of plastic pollution is an important challenge for modern international law, whether current international law effectively regulates the problem of plastic pollution, what should be the content of a new treaty on plastic and what are the positions of states on its content.

International Law Regulation of Environmental Security in Disarmament Treaties

INTRODUCTION. Currently, one of the urgent issues on the agenda is environmental protection. In the 80s 20th Century, due to the sharp degradation of the environment, the world community raised the issue of developing a concept of environmental safety. It has been integrated into the comprehensive system of international security as one of the constituent elements that is becoming increasingly important.The absence of lasting peace, the spread of armed conflicts, and the accumulation of weapons, including nuclear weapons, are of concern to the international community. Therefore, an important task in improving the system of international legal regulation of environmental protection is to improve its contractual basis.MATERIALS AND METHODS. This study uses the works of both domestic and foreign experts in international law and analyzes international legal documents on disarmament. In the course of the study, general scientific methods of cognition were used, which made it possible to systematically and logically study the subject of research in interrelation, interdependence and interdependence (comparative legal, formal legal methods, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction).THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY. Within the framework of this article, the author analyzed the problem of international legal environmental protection in relation to disarmament and made proposals for their solution and further development of international legal regulation.JUDGMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS. According to the results of the study, it was found that treaties adopted in international law to ensure international security contribute not only to the maintenance of peace, but also to environmental safety, which over the past 30 years has become included in most international legal documents.

Current situation and transformation ways of housing policy in Ukraine

Housing policy is one of the urgent scientific and practical areas within legal research because it has not been updated since 1995, and actual housing relations have already received a new meaning. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the current situation and propose transformational approaches to housing policy. The study employs formal legal, statistical, and general scientific research methods, considering dialectical, synergistic, and axiological approaches. The main issue with Ukrainian housing policy is the absence of a modern concept guiding housing development and legal regulation. It is observed that the intensification of efforts to develop and adopt the principles of future state housing policy was conducted at the level of state authoritiesʼ activities. Based on the analysis of regulations in housing relations, it was determined that housing policy is part of a broader state policy – social policy. This is because it aims to meet the social interest – the need for housing. It is emphasised that housing policy is divided into national and regional housing policies. Particular attention is paid to the difficulty of restoring the destroyed housing facilities stock as a result of the war; it is suggested that a system of action be implemented to overcome the complicated situation in the housing sector. The study supports the idea of highlighting a specific area of modern housing policy in Ukraine, namely, ensuring the housing rights of vulnerable individuals, particularly those who have been forcibly evicted due to war. The study identifies specific areas of housing policy, including: the restoration of housing facilities (such as constructing new housing, compensating for destroyed housing, and conducting repair and construction works); devising an investment strategy for the housing sector; safeguarding citizensʼ housing rights; and revising housing legislation. These recommendations can be considered by the legislative and executive authorities when formulating a strategy and policy for the reconstruction of the housing stock of the state

Directive Illocutionary Act Used by The Main Character in “The End of the F***ing World”

The purpose of this study is to analyzedirective illocutionary act, spesifically about how action can occur only with the use of language spoken by the main characters in The End of the F***ing World series.Theory by Halliday and Hasan (1985) was applied to analyse the situational context which refers to the place, topic of the conversation, participants’s relationship, and how language is used in the conversation. There is also theory by Yule (1996) about the explanation of action that performed just by utterance called directive illocutionary act and divided into command, order, request and suggestion. This study used a descriptive qualitative method... The results found all types of directive illocutionary act used by the main characters in their daily life to make someone do something, where the success rate in using directive illocutionary act is related with the situational context.. This study used formal and informal methods in its presentation.

The Types of Derivational Suffixes Found in The Dry Novel by Jane Harper

The study focused on analysing the types of derivational suffixes. The data was taken from The Dry by Jane Harper and analysed by using the theory from Plag (2003) and Carstairs-Mccarthy (2002). The data collected was analysed by using a descriptive qualitative method. The results of this study were explained using both formal and informal methods. The findings showed that there are four types of derivational suffixes found in this novel, such as nominal suffixes, verbal suffixes, adjectival suffixes, and adverbial suffixes. The total of the data found in this study is 194 data which consist of nominal suffixes with 66 data. The second, in verbal suffixes with 1 data. Next, adjectival suffixes with 69 data. The last suffix is adverbial suffixes with 58 data.

Intelligent conflict detection of IoT services using high-level Petri nets

AbstractInternet of Things has become a common paradigm for various domains. To meet a user’s complex requirement, we should compose multiple IoT devices (IoT services) to provide comprehensive services to the user. However, these services usually coexist, which is likely to lead to conflicts. Moreover, each user may have different kinds of needs. Suppose that in a smart home there are more than one person, a conflict may occur when they request the same service in this environment. Actually, even though they request different IoT services, among which if there exists function impact or QoS impact, a conflict could still occur. In this paper, we propose to employ high-level Petri nets to detect conflicts among IoT services. We first model the formal methods for conflict policies. Then, we present a Petri nets-based mechanism for modeling and detecting conflicts. Finally, we expand the previous model and use high-level Petri nets for handling fuzzy IoT conflict policies modeling and reasoning. The experimental results show that the proposed approach performs well in accuracy.

Translating meaning representations to behavioural interface specifications

Higher-order logic can be used for meaning representation in natural language processing to encode the semantic relationships in text. Alternatively, using a formal specification language for meaning representation is more precise for specifying programs and widely supported by automatic theorem provers, while deductive verification based on higher order logic is less common for mainstream programming languages. This paper addresses the research question of translating higher-order logic meaning representations generated from method-level code comments into a formal specification language that extends first-order logic. Doing so requires resolving possible ambiguities in determining the appropriate semantics for predicates. This is an open challenge in the path toward using natural language processing with formal methods. To address this, the paper proposes an approach and constructs a compiler for translating meaning representations, generated from Java programs with method-level comments, into Java Modelling Language. We evaluate the compiler on a set of representative benchmarks, including programs and specifications from the Java API, by generating Java Modelling Language specifications and statically checking them with a theorem prover. Results show that in 94% of the cases Java Modelling Language is accurately generated and in 97% of those cases it can be automatically checked with a state-of-the-art theorem prover.

Einhard’s Vita Karoli Magni: Dialogue with Classical Genre

Vita Karoli Magni (The Life of Charlemagne) was the first medieval biography. It was written by Einhard, a prominent figure of the Carolingian era, who used some biographies of Roman emperors by Suetonius. This article introduces a comparative analysis of Einhard’s Vita Karoli Magni and Suetonius’ biographies in terms of structure and composition. The main research objectives were to define to what degree Einhard followed the chosen pattern, as well as to identify the new features the medieval biography acquired as compared with the texts by Suetonius. The study involved descriptive, cultural-historical, comparative-historical, historical-genetic, and formal methods. The author questioned the generally accepted opinion that Einhard relied on Suetonius’s texts. The texts by Einhard and Suetonius are similar in macro-composition, but the former was affected by the Christian tradition of heroic narrative. Suetonius’s stories resembled a friendly conversation that could embrace different points of view. However, Einhard wrote an encomium that was to offer its readers an ideal image of a king. His biography was compiled according to the three-part scheme, typical of hagiographies.

Реализация социально-правовой функции адвокатом по назначению в уголовных и гражданских делах, в которых содержится государственная тайна

The article delves into the realization of the social and legal function of the appointed advocate in criminal and civil proceedings in cases involving state secrets, as well as problematic issues and liability that may occur in case of its divulgence. The relevance of the research topic is that in Russia there is an increase in the number of convictions under Article 283 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – disclosure of state secrets. In addition, the article discusses theoretical issues, the relationship between attorney-client privilege and state secrets, and provides examples from judicial practice. From a certain angle, the author is convinced that it is necessary to investigate the issue of the advocate’s activity on appointment in criminal and civil cases, in which there is a state secret, in order to further develop recommendations for advocates. The formal legal method, the method of comparative analysis, synthesis, the inductive method, generalization and systematization of scientific sources on the research problem, comparative and predictive methods were used.