677 research outputs found
The Internet of Automotive Things:Vulnerabilities, risks and policy implications
No full textThe global automotive industry is undergoing rapid, multi-faceted change, brought about by the introduction of connectivity and the move towards autonomy. The benefits of these changes have to be balanced against the risks involved. In particular, the cybersecurity risks must be acknowledged. The UK is at the forefront of many of these changes, and the stated intention of the UK government is to continue to lead the way. This will require a sophisticated and intentional cyber posture. This article offers insight into the cyber policy issues surrounding the Internet of Automotive Things
About Past, Present and Future Wars [Rev. Jeremy Black, Krótka historia wojny, przeł. I. Kurowski, P. Szadkowski, Warszawa 2022]
No full textW artykule recenzyjnym omówiono strukturę i wybrane treści zawarte w książce brytyjskiego historyka Jeremy’ego Blacka pt. Krótka historia wojny opublikowanej w 2022 roku przez Wydawnictwo RM. Recenzowana praca stanowi oryginalne ujęcie zagadnień związanych z prowadzeniem wojen na świecie od zarania ludzkości po dzień dzisiejszy. Mimo stosunkowo niewielkiej objętości autor logicznie i rzetelnie zaprezentował proces zmian w sposobie prowadzenia konfliktów zbrojnych w ujęciu globalnym, sformułował spostrzeżenia i wnioski co do ich przyczyn i cech charakterystycznych.The review article discusses the structure and selected content of the book written by the British historian Jeremy Black entitled Krótka historia wojny published in 2022 by RM publishing house. The reviewed work is an original approach to issues related to waging wars in the world from the dawn of humanity to the present day. Despite the relatively small volume, the author logically and reliably presented the process of changes in the way they are carried out from a global perspective, formulating observations and conclusions as to their causes and characteristic features
The role of the hydrophobic core in regulating protein stability: probing proteins with dielectric and electrodynamic driving forces
No full textThis thesis answers questions about how the design of proteins maintains dynamic stability. It begins with an investigation into how a globular protein, β -Lactoglobulin A, accommodates a small molecule into its hydrophobic core. These experiments examine the events of ligand binding, reporting the pico- to nanosecond motions that stabilize the ligand. The small molecule, Coumarin 153 (C153), is a dye whose fluorescence energy is modulated by the surrounding protein. Relaxation of the protein about the dye manifests as a time-dependent red shift in observed fluorescence energy. This red shift is successfully separated from the fluorescence of two other C153 dye binding sites with an analysis tool we develop. Using a model fluorescence spectrum, the total fluorescence is decomposed into its three components. binding locations are assigned based on temperature-dependent fluorescence data which reveal site specific thermodynamic changes in the protein consistent with previous reports. The high temperature denature of β -Lactoglobulin is also manifested as a change in fluctuation activation energies, which are calculated according to Arrhenius theory. The second part of the thesis establishes the ma jor driving force for the destabilization of an intrinsically disordered protein, an event which initiates its aggregation to amyloid. α-synuclein (αSyn) is the major protein component of pathological Lewy bodies found in Parkinsonian neural tissue. The majority of in vitro experiments accelerate kinetics with sample agitation in the presence of air or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Our experiments use controlled amounts of PTFE to demonstrate the accel- eration is due to the stabilization of monomeric αSyn at the hydrophobic-hydrophilic (PTFE-water) interface. This result disproves the widely held assumption that amyloid kinetics are primarily accelerated by mass transfer and/or fibril fragmentation and calls for a reevaluation of αSyn amyloid publications. It is determined that only the initial dimerization reaction is surface dependent and a fit of data to an explicit kinetic model allows information of solution phase reactions to be separated from it. A model is developed about a free energy landscape and the resulting kinetic parameters are translated into ∆G and ∆G‡ values for prenuclation, nucleation, and fibrillization reactions.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Jeremy Pronchi
Formal analysis of BPMN models using event-B
Get PDFThe use of business process models has gone far beyond documentation purposes. In the development of business applications, they can play the role of an artifact on which high level properties can be verified and design errors can be revealed in an effort to reduce overhead at later software development and diagnosis stages. This paper demonstrates how formal verification may add value to the specification, design and development of business process models in an industrial setting. The analysis of these models is achieved via an algorithmic translation from the de-facto standard business process modeling language BPMN to Event-B, a widely used formal language supported by the Rodin platform which offers a range of simulation and verification technologies
Selective anticancer activity of a hexapeptide with sequence homology to a non-kinase domain of Cyclin Dependent Kinase 4
Get PDFBackground: cyclin-dependent kinases 2, 4 and 6 (Cdk2, Cdk4, Cdk6) are closely structurally homologous proteins which are classically understood to control the transition from the G1 to the S-phases of the cell cycle by combining with their appropriate cyclin D or cyclin E partners to form kinase-active holoenzymes. Deregulation of Cdk4 is widespread in human cancer, CDK4 gene knockout is highly protective against chemical and oncogene-mediated epithelial carcinogenesis, despite the continued presence of CDK2 and CDK6; and overexpresssion of Cdk4 promotes skin carcinogenesis. Surprisingly, however, Cdk4 kinase inhibitors have not yet fulfilled their expectation as 'blockbuster' anticancer agents. Resistance to inhibition of Cdk4 kinase in some cases could potentially be due to a non-kinase activity, as recently reported with epidermal growth factor receptor. Results: a search for a potential functional site of non-kinase activity present in Cdk4 but not Cdk2 or Cdk6 revealed a previously-unidentified loop on the outside of the C'-terminal non-kinase domain of Cdk4, containing a central amino-acid sequence, Pro-Arg-Gly-Pro-Arg-Pro (PRGPRP). An isolated hexapeptide with this sequence and its cyclic amphiphilic congeners are selectively lethal at high doses to a wide range of human cancer cell lines whilst sparing normal diploid keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Treated cancer cells do not exhibit the wide variability of dose response typically seen with other anticancer agents. Cancer cell killing by PRGPRP, in a cyclic amphiphilic cassette, requires cells to be in cycle but does not perturb cell cycle distribution and is accompanied by altered relative Cdk4/Cdk1 expression and selective decrease in ATP levels. Morphological features of apoptosis are absent and cancer cell death does not appear to involve autophagy. Conclusion: these findings suggest a potential new paradigm for the development of broad-spectrum cancer specific therapeutics with a companion diagnostic biomarker and a putative functional site for kinase-unrelated activities of Cdk4
O dawnych, współczesnych i przyszłych wojnach [Rec. Jeremy Black, Krótka historia wojny, przeł. I. Kurowski, P. Szadkowski, Warszawa 2022]
Get PDFThe review article discusses the structure and selected content of the book written by the British historian Jeremy Black entitled Krótka historia wojny published in 2022 by RM publishing house. The reviewed work is an original approach to issues related to waging wars in the world from the dawn of humanity to the present day. Despite the relatively small volume, the author logically and reliably presented the process of changes in the way they are carried out from a global perspective, formulating observations and conclusions as to their causes and characteristic features.W artykule recenzyjnym omówiono strukturę i wybrane treści zawarte w książce brytyjskiego historyka Jeremy’ego Blacka pt. Krótka historia wojny opublikowanej w 2022 roku przez Wydawnictwo RM. Recenzowana praca stanowi oryginalne ujęcie zagadnień związanych z prowadzeniem wojen na świecie od zarania ludzkości po dzień dzisiejszy. Mimo stosunkowo niewielkiej objętości autor logicznie i rzetelnie zaprezentował proces zmian w sposobie prowadzenia konfliktów zbrojnych w ujęciu globalnym, sformułował spostrzeżenia i wnioski co do ich przyczyn i cech charakterystycznych
Developing a consensus algorithm using stepwise refinement
No full textConsensus problems arise in any area of computing where distributed processes must come to a joint decision. Although solutions to consensus problems have similar aims, they vary according to the processor faults and network properties that must be taken into account, and modifying these assumptions will lead to different algorithms. Reasoning about consensus protocols is subtle, and correctness proofs are often informal. This paper gives a fully formal development and proof of a known consensus algorithm using the stepwise refinement method Event-B. This allows us to manage the complexity of the proof process by factoring the proof of correctness into a number of refinement steps, and to carry out the proof task concurrently with the development. During the development the processor faults and network properties on which the development steps rely are identified. The research outlined here is motivated by the observation that making different choices at these points may lead to alternative algorithms and proofs, leading to a refinement tree of algorithms with partially shared proofs
Improving intercultural pragmatic competencies in online L2 Spanish classrooms through task-supported learning
No full textLearners of a second language often have limited access to the native culture of that language in an authentic way, resulting in them committing linguistic and intercultural mistakes. One of the main advantages of task-based learning is that it can expose students to real-world circumstances, which makes learning a language more meaningful and inclusive of appropriate language behaviour. Task-based learning has become an accepted method for learning a language in face-to-face classroom environments, but its applicability to online learning is largely unaddressed. The author proposed well-organised online role-plays based on a task-based approach involving native speakers, which helped students interact in an authentic way and demonstrate their understanding of culture. The author conducted the research to increase intercultural pragmatic competencies in online L2 classrooms regarding common pragmatic speech acts as to not only increase their pragmatic competency but to also motivate students. The students from the online experimental group who were exposed to task-supported role-plays performed better than the online control group of students; however, student motivation was only mildly impacted. Thus, pragmatics and interculturality can be effectively taught in online L2 classrooms through task-supported learning, though motivation may require longer interventions
Using Probability to Reason about Soft Deadlines
Get PDFSoft deadlines are significant in systems in which a bound on the response time is important, but the failure to meet the response time is not a disaster. Soft deadlines occur, for example, in telephony and switching networks. We investigate how to put probabilistic bounds on the time-complexity of a concurrent logic program by combining (on-line) profiling with an (off-line) probabilistic complexity analysis. The profiling collects information on the likelihood of case selection and the analysis uses this information to infer the probability of an agent terminating within k steps. Although the approach does not reason about synchronization, we believe that its simplicity and good (essentially quadratic) complexity mean that it is a promising first step in reasoning about soft deadlines
Jeremy Bentham i rządy graczy w pchełki, czyli rzecz o tym, że nie każdy liberał jest liberalny
No full textJeremy Bentham and the Tiddlywinks Player Rules, That Is About That Not Every Liberal Is Liberal Jeremy Bentham is one of the most important Anglo‑Saxon political thinkers, jurists, social reformers and founders of utilitarianism. He also deserves a prominent position in the history of democratic ideas. Bentham not only perceived popular rule as a vehicle for the materialisation of his vision of utilitarian society, but he also gave us a detailed picture of the basic institutions of that form of democracy. In this article the Author suggests that Benthamiam political concept is not liberal but radical and also rooted in continental radical philosophy of French Enlightenment. By rejecting classical liberal ideas such as natural rights, law of nature, social contract and limited government he opened the door for the democratic tyranny of mediocrity justified by the victory of equality over liberty.</jats:p
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