Termination Of Programs Research Articles

Effects of Pilates and trunk strengthening exercises on health-related quality of life in women with chronic low back pain.

Pilates programs are widely used as a form of regular exercise in a broad range of populations investigating their effectiveness for chronic low back pain (CLBP) treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of a Pilates program and a trunk strengthening exercise program on functional disability and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in women with nonspecific CLBP. A total of 101 volunteer women with CLBP provided data with a 3-month follow-up. They were randomized to either a Pilates (n= 37), trunk strengthening exercise (n= 36) or a control group (n= 28), exercising for a period of 8 weeks, three times a week. Data were collected on HRQOL using the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36v2), and functional disability using the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire prior to program initiation, mid-intervention, immediately after program termination, and three months post-intervention. The Pilates participants reported greater improvements on self-reported functional disability and HRQOL compared with participants in the trunk strengthening exercise and control groups (p < 0.05). The effects were retained for a period of three months after program termination for the Pilates group and to a lesser extent for the trunk strengthening exercise group. An 8-week Pilates program improved HRQOL and reduced functional disability more than either a trunk strengthening exercise program or controls among women with CLBP.

Method based on artificial excitation of characteristic radiation by an electron beam for remote X-ray spectral elemental analysis of surface rocks on atmosphereless celestial bodies

This article, like our previous one [1], is devoted to advanced space technology concepts. It evaluates the potential for developing active systems to conduct a remote elemental analysis of surface rocks on an atmosphereless celestial body. The analysis is based on the spectrometry of characteristic X-rays (CXR) artificially excited in the surface soil layer. It has been proposed to use an electron beam injected from aboard a spacecraft orbiting the celestial body (or moving in a flyby trajectory) to excite the CXR elements contained in surface rocks. The focus is on specifying technical requirements to the parameters of payloads for a global mapping of the composition of lunar rocks from aboard of a low-orbiting lunar satellite. This article uses the results obtained in [2], our first study that shows the potential to develop an active system for a remote elemental analysis of lunar surface rocks using the above method. Although there has been interest in our research on the part of leading national academic institutions and space technology developers in the Soviet Union, the studies were discontinued because of the termination of the Soviet lunar program and the completion of the American Apollo program.

Automatically Proving Termination and Memory Safety for Programs with Pointer Arithmetic

While automated verification of imperative programs has been studied intensively, proving termination of programs with explicit pointer arithmetic fully automatically was still an open problem. To close this gap, we introduce a novel abstract domain that can track allocated memory in detail. We use it to automatically construct a symbolic execution graph that over-approximates all possible runs of a program and that can be used to prove memory safety. This graph is then transformed into an integer transition system, whose termination can be proved by standard techniques. We implemented this approach in the automated termination prover AProVE and demonstrate its capability of analyzing C programs with pointer arithmetic that existing tools cannot handle.

Analyzing Program Termination and Complexity Automatically with AProVE

In this system description, we present the tool AProVE for automatic termination and complexity proofs of Java, C, Haskell, Prolog, and rewrite systems. In addition to classical term rewrite systems (TRSs), AProVE also supports rewrite systems containing built-in integers (int-TRSs). To analyze programs in high-level languages, AProVE automatically converts them to (int-)TRSs. Then, a wide range of techniques is employed to prove termination and to infer complexity bounds for the resulting rewrite systems. The generated proofs can be exported to check their correctness using automatic certifiers. To use AProVE in software construction, we present a corresponding plug-in for the popular Eclipse software development environment.

The effects of intra-articular glucocorticoids and exercise on pain and synovitis assessed on static and dynamic magnetic resonance imaging in knee osteoarthritis: exploratory outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.

The aims of the present knee osteoarthritis (KOA)-study were to: (1) describe and compare the changes in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-measures of synovitis following an exercise program preceded by an intra-articular injection of either corticosteroid or isotonic saline and (2) investigate if any of the changes in patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) were associated with changes in MRI-measures of synovitis. We performed a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating the effects of intra-articular corticosteroid vs placebo injections given before exercise therapy in KOA-patients. PROMs were assessed using the KOOS (knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score). Synovitis was assessed on conventional non-contrast-enhanced, conventional contrast-enhanced (CE) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI. PROMs and MRIs were obtained prior to the intra-articular injection, after termination of the exercise program (week 14-primary time point) and week 26. Of 100 randomized participants (50 in each allocation group), 91 had complete MRI-data at baseline (63% female, mean age: 62 years, median Kellgren-Lawrence-grade: 3). There were no statistically significant differences between the two interventions in regards of changes in MRI-measures of synovitis at any time-point. At week 14, we found no statistical significant MRI-explanatory variables of either of the PROMs. The present study does not justify the use of intra-articular corticosteroids over intra-articular saline when combined with an exercise program for reduction of synovitis in KOA. The improvement in pain and function following the intervention with intra-articular corticosteroids/saline and exercise could not be explained by a decrease in synovitis on MRI indicating other pain causing/relieving mechanisms in KOA.

The Importance of Patient-Specific Factors for Hepatic Drug Response and Toxicity.

Responses to drugs and pharmacological treatments differ considerably between individuals. Importantly, only 50%–75% of patients have been shown to react adequately to pharmacological interventions, whereas the others experience either a lack of efficacy or suffer from adverse events. The liver is of central importance in the metabolism of most drugs. Because of this exposed status, hepatotoxicity is amongst the most common adverse drug reactions and hepatic liabilities are the most prevalent reason for the termination of development programs of novel drug candidates. In recent years, more and more factors were unveiled that shape hepatic drug responses and thus underlie the observed inter-individual variability. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of different principle mechanisms of drug hepatotoxicity and illustrate how patient-specific factors, such as genetic, physiological and environmental factors, can shape drug responses. Furthermore, we highlight other parameters, such as concomitantly prescribed medications or liver diseases and how they modulate drug toxicity, pharmacokinetics and dynamics. Finally, we discuss recent progress in the field of in vitro toxicity models and evaluate their utility in reflecting patient-specific factors to study inter-individual differences in drug response and toxicity, as this understanding is necessary to pave the way for a patient-adjusted medicine.

Deformations of singular symplectic varieties and termination of the log minimal model program

Deformations of singular symplectic varieties and termination of the log minimal model program

Automatically disproving fair termination of higher-order functional programs

We propose an automated method for disproving fair termination of higher-order functional programs, which is complementary to Murase et al.’s recent method for proving fair termination. A program is said to be fair terminating if it has no infinite execution trace that satisfies a given fairness constraint. Fair termination is an important property because program verification problems for arbitrary ω-regular temporal properties can be transformed to those of fair termination. Our method reduces the problem of disproving fair termination to higher-order model checking by using predicate abstraction and CEGAR. Given a program, we convert it to an abstract program that generates an approximation of the (possibly infinite) execution traces of the original program, so that the original program has a fair infinite execution trace if the tree generated by the abstract program satisfies a certain property. The method is a non-trivial extension of Kuwahara et al.’s method for disproving plain termination.

Long-term effects of electrotactile sensory substitution therapy on balance disorders.

This clinical research investigated whether a new type of rehabilitation therapy involving the use of a vestibular substitution tongue device (VSTD) is effective for severe balance disorders caused by unilateral vestibular loss. Sixteen patients with postural imbalances because of unilateral vestibular loss underwent training with VSTD. The VSTD transmits information on the head position to the brain through the tongue as substitutes for the lost vestibular information. The device's electrode array was placed on the tongue and participants were trained to maintain a centered body position by ensuring the electrical signals in the center of their tongue. All participants completed 10 min training sessions 2-3 times per day for 8 weeks. Functional gait assessments and the dizziness handicap inventory were, respectively, used to the evaluate participants' dynamic gait function and their severity of balance problems before and after the training period. All examined parameters improved after the 8-week training period. These changes were maintained for up to 2 years after the termination of the training program. Short-term training with VSTD had beneficial carry-over effects. VSTD training might represent a useful rehabilitation therapy in individuals with persistent balance disorders and might lead to long-term improvements in their balance performance and ability to perform daily and social activities.

The effect of a structured personalized ergonomic intervention program for hospital nurses with reported musculoskeletal pain: An assigned randomized control trial.

Intervention programs for hospital nurses with musculoskeletal pain present a challenge for the health professions. To examine the effect of a structured personalized ergonomic intervention program for hospital nurses with musculoskeletal pain. In a randomised controlled trial, 31 nurses from one central hospital with musculoskeletal pain were observed at work. A multi-stage study that included the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, Karasek's questionnaire, The Rapid Entire Body Assessment, and an intervention program was completed with 14 nurses, while the remaining 17 were assigned to a control group. The intervention program was carried out by one physiotherapist and included four meetings over three months. The control group received only instruction sheets. Data on body posture and frequency and intensity of pain were collected before and at three months after the termination of the intervention program. Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed an improvement in REBA scores and in posture that is considered risk factor for work-related musculoskeletal discomfort disorders [p < 0.001], but there were no significant differences in the number of body parts in pain or in the level of musculoskeletal pain. The intervention was shown to be effective in reducing risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders over a short follow-up period. A long-term study is required to determine if this effect is preserved over a longer period and to determine whether the intervention can reduce musculoskeletal symptoms.

Reverse mathematical bounds for the Termination Theorem

In 2004 Podelski and Rybalchenko expressed the termination of transition-based programs as a property of well-founded relations. The classical proof by Podelski and Rybalchenko requires Ramsey's Theorem for pairs which is a purely classical result, therefore extracting bounds from the original proof is non-trivial task.Our goal is to investigate the termination analysis from the point of view of Reverse Mathematics. By studying the strength of Podelski and Rybalchenko's Termination Theorem we can extract some information about termination bounds.

Two‐stage tamper response in tamper‐resistant software

Malicious modification of software continues to raise concerns; thus, many countermeasures against these threats have been proposed such as obfuscation and tamper resistance techniques that can be combined to create tamper-resistant software. The methods for responding to tampering are an important consideration in tamper-resistant software design. Many tamper response mechanisms deliberately cause the application to crash; however, this response has negative impacts on the developers and users. An alternative approach is to detect and fix malicious changes. However, this approach cannot deter an attacker from attempting to continuously modify target software. This study presents robust tamper-resistant software techniques to mitigate tampering and reverse engineering attacks. The tamper-resistant software is based on an existing control flow flattening scheme and includes extensions for tamper detection and flexibility. Furthermore, the authors introduce a dynamic key in their two-stage tamper response scheme that considers both software stability and continuous attack. When tampering is detected, the proposed two-stage tamper response first produces a warning level response such as self-healing or programme termination. Next, if an attacker continuously attempts to bypass the warning level response, a self-destructive tamper response is triggered, as the result of an incorrectly computed dynamic key.

Factors Linked With Increases in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

This case study explored eight clients in outpatient mental health counseling who reported engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) within the 90 days prior to intake. Information on client self-injury, psychological symptoms, and coping behaviors were collected from clients at intake and termination. At program termination, counselors’ treatment methods, number of sessions, and credentials were collected. To explore changes in NSSI during counseling, descriptive statistics and frequencies were used. Most clients decreased or extinguished self-injury behaviors by termination, while two clients increased. Problem-focused and avoidant coping strategies appeared to differentiate clients who decreased from clients who increased self-injurious behaviors by termination.

Reducing prejudice and promoting positive intergroup attitudes among elementary-school children in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The current investigation tested the efficacy of the Extended Class Exchange Program (ECEP) in reducing prejudicial attitudes. Three hundred and twenty-two 3rd and 4th grade students from both Israeli–Jewish and Israeli–Palestinian schools in the ethnically mixed city of Jaffa were randomly assigned to either intervention or control classes. Members of the intervention classes engaged in ECEP's activities, whereas members of the control classes engaged in a social–emotional learning program. The program's outcomes were measured a week before, immediately after, and 15months following termination. Results showed that the ECEP decreased stereotyping and discriminatory tendencies toward the other group and increased positive feelings and readiness for social contact with the other group upon program termination. Additionally, the effects of the ECEP were generalized to an ethnic group (i.e., Ethiopians) with whom the ECEP's participants did not have any contact. Finally, the ECEP retained its significant effect 15months after the program's termination, despite the serious clashes between Israel and the Palestinians that occurred during that time. This empirical support for the ECEP'S utility in reducing prejudice makes it potentially applicable to other areas in the world, especially those that are characterized by ethnic tension and violent conflicts.

Evaluation Inquiry in Donor Funded Programmes in Northern Ghana: Experiences of Programme Staff

An evaluation inquiry has been noted to have a significant influence on whether the evaluation outcomes are used or not. However, only limited studies have examined evaluation inquiry and its implication on the use of evaluation in Ghana. This study therefore seeks to contribute to knowledge on evaluation inquiry and the implications it has on evaluation use in Northern Ghana. Using a multistage sampling process as part of a broader study on evaluation inquiry and use in Northern Ghana, the study examined key elements of evaluation inquiry in 27 programmes implemented between the period 2000 and 2010 in Northern Ghana. Two main levels of data collection were carried out. The first level collected data on the programmes while the second level collected data from programme staff of three programmes as the units of enquiry. It emerged that evaluation was mostly externally funded, premium was placed on project completion evaluation; and evaluation was more an external accountability driven activity. The potential of mid-term evaluation to contribute to evaluation use was undermined by the tag associated with it as basis for the termination of programmes. The study therefore recommends building the evaluation capacity of staff and professionalization of evaluation practice in the country as a way of enhancing evaluation inquiry. Keywords : Evaluation, Programmes evaluation, Evaluation inquiry, Evaluation use, Northern Ghana

Systematic back-calculation protocol and prediction of resilient modulus for MEPDG

A research focusing on the characterisation of representative local material properties was conducted to facilitate the full implementation of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide for roadway designs in Wyoming. As part of the test program, falling weight deflectometer deflection data were collected from 25 test sites in Wyoming for back-calculation of subgrade resilient modulus. Also, subgrade materials from these test sites were sampled for laboratory resilient modulus measurement in accordance with the AASHTO T 307. The back-calculation is a user-dependent procedure and produces a non-unique resilient modulus estimation. To alleviate this limitation, this paper focuses on the recent development of a systematic back-calculation protocol for subgrade resilient modulus using MODCOMP6 software. The protocol is intended for use on a flexible pavement with a crushed base. The proposed procedure discusses pre-analysis checks, seed modulus adjustment, pavement structure adjustment and program termination criteria. A correlation study was conducted to correct back-calculated resilient modulus to laboratory-equivalent values. The results conclude that a non-zero intercept linear regression model provides a better correlation than the widely used zero intercept linear regression model. Furthermore, better correlations are achieved when the back-calculated resilient modulus of a lower subgrade layer and resilient modulus measured at higher laboratory test sequences Nos. 11 to 15 are considered. The non-zero model based on Mr test sequence No. 14 and lower subgrade layer yields the best correlation. For the zero model, a C-factor of 0.645 based on Mr test sequence No. 15 and lower subgrade layer yields the best correlation.

Using linear constraints for logic program termination analysis

AbstractIt is widely acknowledged that function symbols are an important feature in answer set programming, as they make modelling easier, increase the expressive power, and allow us to deal with infinite domains. The main issue with their introduction is that the evaluation of a program might not terminate and checking whether it terminates or not is undecidable. To cope with this problem, several classes of logic programs have been proposed where the use of function symbols is restricted but the program evaluation termination is guaranteed. Despite the significant body of work in this area, current approaches do not include many simple practical programs whose evaluation terminates. In this paper, we present the novel classes ofrule-boundedandcycle-bounded programs, which overcome different limitations of current approaches by performing a more global analysis of how terms are propagated from the body to the head of rules. Results on the correctness, the complexity, and the expressivity of the proposed approach are provided.

Factors behind nonadherence to diet regimens among obese adults in Tanta, Egypt: a case-control study.

Nonadherence to diet regimens is a major cause of treatment failure in the field of obesity management. It varies according to the study design and the type of intervention. In weight loss clinical trials, nonadherence rates range from 10 to 80%. Strategies to reduce dropout rates rely on precise identification of factors leading to premature program termination. The aim of this research was to study factors behind nonadherence to diet regimens among obese adults in Tanta, Egypt. A retrospective, case-control study was carried out during the year 2014 in an obesity management private clinic in Tanta, Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. The study included two groups of 150 participants each (adherents and nonadherents) matched for sex and BMI. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data concerning sociodemographic characteristics, weight changes, dieting, and behavioral, psychological, and medical factors. Personal perspectives on potential factors contributing to nonadherence to diet regimens were also investigated. Factors significantly associated with probabilities high probability of to loss of adherence to diet regimens were as follows: younger age, urban residence, higher educational levels, obesity of grades I and III, a higher frequency of previous weight loss trials, consumption of fruits and vegetables less than that recommended (<5 times/day), higher weight loss expectations, and binge eating. The most common personal perspectives on causes limiting adherence to diet regimens were as follows: unsatisfactory results (37.3%), difficulties in dieting practices (33.3%), logistics (30.0%), and fading of motives (27.3%). Obese individuals seeking weight reduction with young age, urban residence, higher educational levels, a higher frequency of previous weight loss trials, higher weight loss expectations, and those with perceived unsatisfactory results are more prone to lose their adherence to diet regimens. Individuals with factors of nonadherence should receive extra care to avoid their withdrawal from diet programs and to improve clinical outcomes.

Algorithmic analysis of qualitative and quantitative termination problems for affine probabilistic programs

In this paper, we consider termination of probabilistic programs with real-valued variables. The questions concerned are: 1. qualitative ones that ask (i) whether the program terminates with probability 1 (almost-sure termination) and (ii) whether the expected termination time is finite (finite termination); 2. quantitative ones that ask (i) to approximate the expected termination time (expectation problem) and (ii) to compute a bound B such that the probability to terminate after B steps decreases exponentially (concentration problem). To solve these questions, we utilize the notion of ranking supermartingales which is a powerful approach for proving termination of probabilistic programs. In detail, we focus on algorithmic synthesis of linear ranking-supermartingales over affine probabilistic programs (APP's) with both angelic and demonic non-determinism. An important subclass of APP's is LRAPP which is defined as the class of all APP's over which a linear ranking-supermartingale exists. Our main contributions are as follows. Firstly, we show that the membership problem of LRAPP (i) can be decided in polynomial time for APP's with at most demonic non-determinism, and (ii) is NP-hard and in PSPACE for APP's with angelic non-determinism; moreover, the NP-hardness result holds already for APP's without probability and demonic non-determinism. Secondly, we show that the concentration problem over LRAPP can be solved in the same complexity as for the membership problem of LRAPP. Finally, we show that the expectation problem over LRAPP can be solved in 2EXPTIME and is PSPACE-hard even for APP's without probability and non-determinism (i.e., deterministic programs). Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach to answer the qualitative and quantitative questions over APP's with at most demonic non-determinism.

Termination of canonical context-sensitive rewriting and productivity of rewrite systems

Termination of programs, i.e., the absence of infinite computations, ensures the existence of normal forms for all initial expressions, thus providing an essential ingredient for the definition of a normalization semantics for functional programs. In lazy functional languages, though, infinite data structures are often delivered as the outcome of computations. For instance, the list of all prime numbers can be returned as a neverending stream of numerical expressions or data structures. If such streams are allowed, requiring termination is hopeless. In this setting, the notion of productivity can be used to provide an account of computations with infinite data structures, as it "captures the idea of computability, of progress of infinite-list programs" (B.A. Sijtsma, On the Productivity of Recursive List Definitions, ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems 11(4):633-649, 1989). However, in the realm of Term Rewriting Systems, which can be seen as (first-order, untyped, unconditional) functional programs, termination of Context-Sensitive Rewriting (CSR) has been showed equivalent to productivity of rewrite systems through appropriate transformations. In this way, tools for proving termination of CSR can be used to prove productivity. In term rewriting, CSR is the restriction of rewriting that arises when reductions are allowed on selected arguments of function symbols only. In this paper we show that well-known results about the computational power of CSR are useful to better understand the existing connections between productivity of rewrite systems and termination of CSR, and also to obtain more powerful techniques to prove productivity of rewrite systems.