Search

Computer systems, consisting of hardware and software, have gained significant importance in the digitalised world. These computer systems rely on critical components to provide core functionalities and handle sensitive data. A fundamental requirement for these critical components is functional correctness, which ensures that the components work as their specifications prescribe. For instance, a pipelined processor will execute instructions concurrently in different stages such as fetch, decode and execute, and must produce results as specified in the instruction set architecture (ISA) manual. In addition to functional correctness, security properties such as confidentiality and integrity are important. In particular, confidentiality requires that sensitive data is only accessible to authorised users. To construct a correct and secure computer (i.e., a trustworthy stack), this thesis focuses on the functional correctness and confidentiality of peripherals and pipelined processors using the HOL4 interactive theorem prover. For functional correctness, we use a refinement-based verification approach where the execution of a target system is constrained by a reference system. We have studied this for two different target systems, a synchronous serial peripheral interface (SPI) device along with its driver, and a 5-stage pipelined processor. Specifically, we formalise an SPI device and its driver, and present an abstract model as the reference system. The abstract model ensures correct communications in the SPI half- and full-duplex modes. The refinement between the abstract and SPI models is established using weak bisimulation. Secondly, we implement and verify a 5-stage in-order pipelined processor Silver-Pi for the RISC ISA Silver. The correctness of Silver-Pi is proved by exhibiting a refinement relation between the traces of the processor and the Silver ISA. Silver-Pi is implemented using the verified HOL4 Verilog library, which ensures the correctness of the proces, Datorsystem, bestående av hårdvara och mjukvara, har fått stor betydelse i den digitaliserade världen.Dessa datorsystem är beroende av kritiska komponenter för att tillhandahålla grundläggande funktionalitet och hantera känslig information. Ett grundläggande krav för dessa kritiska komponenter är funktionell korrekthet, vilket säkerställer att komponenterna fungerar som deras specifikationer föreskriver. Till exempel kommer en pipelineprocessor att exekvera instruktioner samtidigt i olika steg, till exempel hämtning, dekodning och utförande, och måste producera resultat som specificeras i instruktionsuppsättning (ISA) manualen. Utöver funktionell korrekthet är säkerhetsegenskaper som konfidentialitet och integritet också viktiga. Särskilt kräver konfidentialitet att känslig information endast är tillgänglig för auktoriserade användare. För att konstruera en korrekt och säker dator (dvs. en pålitlig stack), fokuserar denna avhandling på den funktionella korrektheten och konfidentialiteten hos periferiutrustningar och pipelined-processorer med hjälp av det interaktiva bevisprogrammet HOL4. För funktionell korrekthet använder vi ett verifieringssätt baserat på för-fining där utförandet av ett målsystem begränsas av ett referenssystem. Vi har studerat detta för två olika målsystem, en synkron seriell peripheral interface (SPI) tillsammans med dess drivrutin, och en 5-stegs pipelined processor. Specifikt formaliserar vi en SPI-anordning och dess drivrutin, och presenterar en abstrakt modell som referenssystemet. Den abstrakta modellen säkerställer korrekt kommunikation i SPI:s halv- och hel-duplexlägen. Förfiningen mellan den abstrakta och SPI-modellerna fastställs med hjälp av svag bisimulering. För det andra implementerar och verifierar vi en 5-stegs in-order pipelined processor Silver-Pi för RISC ISA Silver. Korrektheten hos Silver-Pi bevisas genom att uppvisa ett förfiningsförhållande mellan processorernas exkveringsspår och Silver ISA.Silver-Pi är implementerad med, QC 20231221

Despite significant technological advancements in contemporary manufacturing environments, human order picking remains a critical component for the efficiency of manufacturing operations. This is especially true in complex industries such as automotive manufacturing, where human workers possess the necessary flexibility to adapt to unpredictable order requests and dynamic order picking tasks. Digital technologies, however, can significantly assist human order pickers in these complex tasks. While substantial research has examined digitalization efforts in human order picking and the human factor separately, there remains a gap in integrating these aspects in a standardized manner. This study employs the Reference Architecture Model for Industry 4.0 to elucidate the requirements and methods for implementing digital technologies in human order picking, with a particular focus on information flows within these tasks. By synthesizing current literature with the dimensions of the model, a frame of reference was developed to guide the digitalization of human order picking. The frame of reference was then applied in a laboratory experiment to investigate the information flows of the non-digital and the digital system and their impact on human factors. The results demonstrate that a standardized approach enables designers to consider all system aspects holistically, including the human factor. This is crucial, as each human picker exhibited unique performance characteristics and raised different concerns regarding the system’s aspects and flows. Although this systematic approach to digitalization in human order picking operations was tested in a laboratory environment, it is recommended that future research test it in real-world scenarios with multiple Industry 4.0 technologies integrated into existing systems., Trots betydande teknologiska framsteg i moderna tillverkningsmiljöer, förblir mänsklig plockning av beställningar en kritisk komponent för effektiviteten i tillverkningsoperationer. Detta är särskilt sant inom komplexa industrier som bilindustrin, där mänskliga arbetare har den nödvändiga flexibiliteten att anpassa sig till oförutsägbara beställningsförfrågningar och dynamiska plockuppgifter. Digitala teknologier kan dock avsevärt hjälpa mänskliga plockare i dessa komplexa uppgifter. Trots att omfattande forskning har granskat digitaliseringsinsatser inom mänsklig plockning av beställningar och den mänskliga faktorn separat, finns det fortfarande en lucka i att integrera dessa aspekter på ett standardiserat sätt. Denna studie använder Referensarkitekturmodellen för Industri 4.0 för att förklara kraven och metoderna för att implementera digitala teknologier i mänsklig plockning av beställningar, med ett särskilt fokus på informationsflöden inom dessa uppgifter. Genom att syntetisera aktuell litteratur med modellens dimensioner utvecklades en referensram för att vägleda digitaliseringen av mänsklig plockning av beställningar. Referensramen tillämpades sedan i ett laboratorieexperiment för att undersöka informationsflödena i det icke-digitala och det digitala systemet och deras påverkan på mänskliga faktorer. Resultaten visar att ett standardiserat tillvägagångssätt gör det möjligt för designers att överväga alla aspekter av systemet holistiskt, inklusive den mänskliga faktorn. Detta är avgörande, eftersom varje mänsklig plockare visade unika prestandaegenskaper och tog upp olika frågor gällande systemets aspekter och flöden. Även om detta systematiska tillvägagångssätt för digitalisering av plockningsoperationer testades i en laboratoriemiljö, rekommenderas att framtida forskning testar det i verkliga scenarier med flera Industri 4.0-teknologier integrerade i befintliga system.

Det råder idag ett behov för producerande företag att öka sin effektivitet för att bibehålla sin konkurrenskraft till följd ökade och varierande kundkrav. Dessa krav på förbättring av effektivitet är särskilt påtagliga i en tid av snabb teknisk utveckling och digitalisering. Företag, såsom studiens caseföretag, väljer att effektivisera och möta kraven genom att slå samman två av sina fabriker, vilket förväntas ge ekonomiska och tidsmässiga besparingar. Dock innebär detta omfattande planering och integration av processer och informationsflöden. Studien undersöker de fördelar och nackdelar som uppstår vid en sammanslagning där studien finner bland annat att integration är en avgörande faktor för att uppnå studiens fördelar. Vidare ser studien hur bristande integration av informationssystem kan påverka företagets interna kommunikation. Resultaten tyder på att de identifierade bristerna leder till ökade kostnader, ineffektivitet och slöseri med resurser. Slutligen undersöker studien hur ett effektiviserat informationsflöde kan minimera icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter mellan råvarulager och produktion. Denna praktiska vinkel av studien syftar till att identifiera slöserier inom caseföretaget. Ett effektiviserat informationsflöde bidrar till ökad kontroll och spårbarhet inom en fabrik, och på detta sätt minimerar det icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter. Syftet med studien är att analysera och identifiera möjliga effektiviseringsåtgärder samt brister inom informationsflödet hos tillverkningsföretags operativa verksamhet. Detta i särskilt samband med sammanslagning av två fabriker. Studien är baserad på teori, intervjuer samt beräkningar., There is currently a need for manufacturing companies to increase their efficiency to maintain their competitiveness due to increased and varied customer demands. These demands for efficiency improvement are particularly noticeable in a time of rapid technological development and digitization. Companies, such as the case-company in the study, choose to streamline and meet the demands by merging two of their factories, which is expected to result in economic and time savings. However, this entails extensive planning and integration of processes and information flows. The study examines the advantages and disadvantages that arise from a merger, finding, among other things, that integration is a crucial factor in achieving the study's benefits. Furthermore, the study observes how inadequate integration of information systems can affect the company's internal communication. The results suggest that the identified shortcomings lead to increased costs, inefficiency, and resource wastage. Finally, the study explores how an efficient flow of information can minimize non-value-added activities between raw material storage and production. This practical aspect of the study aims to identify waste within the window company. An efficient flow of information contributes to increased control and traceability within a factory, thus minimizing non-value-added activities. The purpose of the study is to analyze and identify possible efficiency measures and shortcomings in the flow of information in the operational activities of manufacturing companies, particularly in the context of merging two factories. The study is based on theory, interviews, and calculations.

In a distributed system, in which an action can be either “hidden” or “observable”, an unwanted information flow might arise when occurrences of observable actions give information about occurrences of hidden actions. A collection of relations, i.e. reveals and its variants, is used to model such information flow among transitions of a Petri net. This paper recalls the reveals relations defined in [3], and proposes an algorithm to compute them on bounded equal-conflict PT systems, using a smaller structure than the one defined in [3].

We present an in-order pipelined processor and its verification in the HOL4 interactive theorem prover. The processor implements the RISC ISA Silver and features a general 5-stage pipeline. The correctness of the processor is proved by exhibiting a refinement relation between the traces of the pipelined circuit and the Silver ISA. The processor is constructed by using a HOL4 Verilog library for formally verified hardware, and its correctness is guaranteed down to the Verilog implementation. Additionally, we analyze the information flow properties of the processor by utilizing the refinement relation. The notion of conditional noninterference formulates that a processor should not leak more information via its timing channel than what is expected by a leakage model expressed at the ISA level. We establish the conditional noninterference for our processor and demonstrate the adaptability of the information flow methodology to accommodate various processor designs, attacker models, and environments. Our approach to verify processor implementations and enable information flow analysis at the circuit level is suitable for ISAs beyond Silver., QC 20231121

This research identified and analyzed, by a systematic review of the literature, the relationship between information and values in supporting the decision making, in the corporate sustainability context. It was verified that the relationships between information and values, in the researched context, take place from three "macro processes": Information and Knowledge Management, Informational Strategy, and Dissemination of Information. These relationships range all the stages of the decision making, affecting the rationale applied by the decision-maker regarding the adherence of corporate sustainability practices. This suggests that the organizations may benefit themselves when developing information presentation strategies aligned,not only to the stakeholders’ values, but also in the way that these values engage with the information., Esta pesquisa identificou e analisou, por meio de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, a relação entre informação e valores no suporte à tomada de decisão, no contexto da sustentabilidade empresarial. Constatou-se que os relacionamentos entre informação e valores, no contexto pesquisado, ocorrem a partir de três "macroprocessos": Gestão da Informação e do Conhecimento, Estratégia Informacional, e Disseminação da Informação. Estes relacionamentosperpassam todas as etapas da tomada de decisão, impactando a racionalidade empregada pelos decisores em relação à adoção de práticas de sustentabilidade empresarial. Isto sugere que as organizações podem se beneficiar ao desenvolver estratégias de apresentação da informação alinhadas não apenas aos valores das partes interessadas, mas também na forma com que estes valores interagem com a informação., Esta investigación identificó y analizó, a través de una revisión sistemática de literatura, la relación entre información y valores en apoyo a la toma de decisiones, en el contexto de la sostenibilidad empresarial. Se constató que tales relaciones ocurren a partir de tres "macroprocesos": Gestión de Información y Conocimiento, Estrategia Informacional y Difusión de Información. Estas relaciones permean todas las etapas de la toma de decisiones, impactando la racionalidad empleada por los tomadores de decisiones en relación a la adopción de prácticas de sostenibilidad empresarial. Esto sugiere que las organizaciones pueden beneficiarse al desarrollar estrategias de presentación de información alineadas, con los valores de las partes interesadas, y también en la forma en que estos valores interactúan con la información.

Sleep is a highly stereotyped phenomenon, requiring robust spatiotemporal coordination of neural activity. Understanding how the brain coordinates neural activity with sleep onset can provide insights into the physiological functions subserved by sleep and the pathologic phenomena associated with sleep onset. We quantified whole-brain network changes in synchrony and information flow during the transition from wakefulness to light non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, using MEG imaging in a convenient sample of 14 healthy human participants (11 female; mean 63.4 years [SD 11.8 years]). We furthermore performed computational modeling to infer excitatory and inhibitory properties of local neural activity. The transition from wakefulness to light NREM was identified to be encoded in spatially and temporally specific patterns of long-range synchrony. Within the delta band, there was a global increase in connectivity from wakefulness to light NREM, which was highest in frontoparietal regions. Within the theta band, there was an increase in connectivity in fronto-parieto-occipital regions and a decrease in temporal regions from wakefulness to Stage 1 sleep. Patterns of information flow revealed that mesial frontal regions receive hierarchically organized inputs from broad cortical regions upon sleep onset, including direct inflow from occipital regions and indirect inflow via parieto-temporal regions within the delta frequency band. Finally, biophysical neural mass modeling demonstrated changes in the anterior-to-posterior distribution of cortical excitation-to-inhibition with increased excitation-to-inhibition model parameters in anterior regions in light NREM compared with wakefulness. Together, these findings uncover whole-brain corticocortical structure and the orchestration of local and long-range, frequency-specific cortical interactions in the sleep-wake transition.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Our work uncovers spatiotemporal cortical structure of neural synchrony and inf

The effects of temperature on interaction strengths are important for understanding and forecasting how global climate change impacts marine ecosystems; however, tracking and quantifying interactions of marine fish species is practically difficult especially under field conditions, and thus, how temperature influences their interaction strengths under field conditions remains poorly understood. We herein performed quantitative fish environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding on 550 seawater samples that were collected twice a month from 11 coastal sites for two years in the Boso Peninsula, Japan, and analyzed eDNA monitoring data using nonlinear time-series analytical tools. We detected fish-fish interactions as information flow between eDNA time series, reconstructed interaction networks for the top 50 frequently detected species, and quantified pairwise, fluctuating interaction strengths. Although there was a large variation, water temperature influenced fish-fish interaction strengths. The impact of water temperature on interspecific interaction strengths varied among fish species, suggesting that fish species identity influences the temperature effects on interactions. For example, interaction strengths that Halichoeres tenuispinis and Microcanthus stringatus received strongly increased with water temperature, while those of Engraulis japonicus and Girella punctata decreased with water temperature. An increase in water temperature induced by global climate change may change fish interactions in a complex way, which consequently influences marine community dynamics and stability. Our research demonstrates a practical research framework to study the effects of environmental variables on interaction strengths of marine communities in nature, which would contribute to understanding and predicting natural marine ecosystem dynamics.

Efficient management of construction and demolition components is crucial for the sustainability of the environment, society, and economy. Reusing construction materials is an effective way to reduce construction debris. However, reuse is hurdled due to different factors, and one of the leading causes of these factors is improper information flow. The information flow is the transfer of relevant information within the network about construction materials such as quality, quantity and other specifications in the reuse aspect. The seamless flow of relevant information on the construction process and materials is crucial to facilitate reuse. Unfortunately, there are considerable obstacles to achieving a seamless information flow. By identifying and addressing the barriers that hinder the current information flow, we can thrive towards a seamless flow of information that facilitates reuse within the construction industry. This paper examines the challenges in the flow of information within the Swedish construction industry using a qualitative exploratory research design. The research also explores some strategies adopted by a few stakeholders to promote reuse. The study is performed using existing literature and interviews with various stakeholders mainly in the Swedish construction industry. The research identifies several barriers in information flow, including a lack of collaboration among stakeholders, fragmented information, no standardization, business models that do not support reuse, and low awareness of reuse prospects. To gain better insight into the flow of information, a five-component framework has been devised based on these challenges.

Bakgrund - Bygglogistik omfattar att planera och hantera logistik av material, utrustning och personal på byggarbetsplatsen. En väl fungerande bygglogistik minskar risken för förseningar, budgetöverskridningar och arbetsplatsolyckor och bidrar till ett mer hållbart byggande. Slöseri eller icke värdeskapande arbete på byggarbetsplatsen utgör 30–35% av kostnaderna och kan minskas genom effektivisering av materialhantering. Syfte & Frågeställning - Studien fokuserar på att minska kostnaderna inom byggbranschen genom att förbättra kommunikationsflödena i byggproduktionen med hjälp av Microsoft Bookings. Målet var att undersöka vilka grundförutsättningar som existerar för att effektivisera leveranshanteringen och om Microsoft Bookings som digitalt verktyg kan effektivisera informationsflödet. Frågeställningarna som ska besvaras innefattar vilka är grundförutsättningarna för att effektivisera leveranshanteringen, och hur väl kan Microsoft Bookings effektivisera informationsflödet. Metod - Studien har utgått ifrån en kvalitativ metod, vilket innebär att frågeställningarna besvaras med hjälp av intervjuer i en fallstudie. Detta har kompletterats med litteraturstudie av teorier och tidigare forskning inom området. Teori - Det teoretiska ramverket utgår från digital kalender, kommunikation, materialhantering och Lean Construction. Detta ramverk utgör en anledning till att använda digitala verktyg eller beskriver de positiva effekter som medföljer vid en implementering. Empiri - Intervjuer resulterade i insikter om vikten av planering, involvering, tydlighet genom visualisering för en effektiv leveranshantering på byggarbetsplatsen. Genom att implementera användarvänligt digitalt verktyg kan leveranshanteringen effektiviseras och göra processen enklare för alla parter som är involverade i projektet. Diskussion & slutsats - Slutsatsen är att ett automatiserad bokningsverktyg för leveranshantering är efterfrågat och välbehövligt. Detta då en implementering leder till red, Background – Construction logistics involves planning and managing of material, equipment and personnel on a construction site. Waste or non-value-added work on the construction site accounts for 30-35% of the costs and can be reduced through efficient material handling. Purpose – The goal was to investigate which delivery activities on a construction site are critical to the schedule and whether Microsoft Bookings is a valid tool to streamlining information flow. Method – The research questions has been answered using qualitative method in a case study and has been complemented by a literature study of theories and previous research in the field. Theory – The theoretical framework is based on digital calendar, communication, handling of materials and Lean Construction. This framework constitutes a reason to use digital tools or describes the positive effects that accompany an implementation. Empirical findings – The results of interviews emphasize the importance of planning, involvement, and clarity through visualization for effective delivery management on the construction site. Discussion & Conclusion – A automated booking tool for delivery is in demand and needed as an implementation leads to a reduction of the number of elements that is required for coordinating material deliveries by coordinate relevant information. The final recommendation is to implement Microsoft Bookings as the tool fulfill four out of six identified needs and characteristics. This does not exclude other types of digital calendars to be evaluated, as the goal is to fulfill all the identified needs and characteristics.

The implementation of Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEB) renovation packages in Europe needs to be accelerated to meet the current decarbonization goals. To achieve this level of performance, building renovation strategies should shift towards solutions that incorporate a multitude of passive and active components, increasing the complexity and costs of the execution. Moreover, it requires the involvement of different stakeholders of the building supply-chain, resulting in additional difficulties in communication and coordination processes. To address this challenge, the present study aims at mapping the renovation process in digital platforms and addressing the respective bottlenecks. In terms of renovation process, several digital platforms were analysed to identify the type of information that the stakeholders require during the different renovation phases. By structuring the information along the renovation process phases, the different stakeholders can identify when the information can be provided and how the different type of information links to each other., Design of Constrution, Architectural Technology

The effects of temperature on interaction strengths are important for understanding and forecasting how global climate change impacts marine ecosystems; however, tracking and quantifying interactions of marine fish species are practically difficult especially under field conditions, and thus, how temperature influences their interaction strengths under field conditions remains poorly understood. We herein performed quantitative fish environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding on 550 seawater samples that were collected twice a month from 11 coastal sites for 2 years in the Boso Peninsula, Japan, and analyzed eDNA monitoring data using nonlinear time series analytical tools. We detected fish–fish interactions as information flow between eDNA time series, reconstructed interaction networks for the top 50 frequently detected species, and quantified pairwise, fluctuating interaction strengths. Although there was a large variation, water temperature influenced fish–fish interaction strengths. The impact of water temperature on interspecific interaction strengths varied among fish species, suggesting that fish species identity influences the temperature effects on interactions. For example, interaction strengths that Halichoeres tenuispinis and Microcanthus strigatus received strongly increased with water temperature, while those of Engraulis japonicus and Girella punctata decreased with water temperature. An increase in water temperature induced by global climate change may change fish interactions in a complex way, which consequently influences marine community dynamics and stability. Our research demonstrates a practical research framework to study the effects of environmental variables on interaction strengths of marine communities in nature, which would contribute to understanding and predicting natural marine ecosystem dynamics.

This paper investigates the role that null messages play in synchronous systems with and without failures, and provides necessary and sufficient conditions on the structure of protocols for information transfer and coordination there. We start by introducing a new and more refined definition of null messages. A generalization of message chains that allow these null messages is provided, and is shown to be necessary and sufficient for information transfer in reliable systems. Coping with crash failures requires a much richer structure, since not receiving a message may be the result of the sender’s failure. We introduce a class of communication patterns called resilient message blocks, which impose a stricter condition on protocols than the silent choirs of Goren and Moses (2020). Such blocks are shown to be necessary for information transfer in crash-prone systems. Moreover, they are sufficient in several cases of interest, in which silent choirs are not. Finally, a particular combination of resilient message blocks is shown to be necessary and sufficient for solving the Ordered Response coordination problem.

Bluebird, a Dutch airline company, was founded over 100 years ago. To this day, they aim to provide memorable experiences to their customers. To do so, Bluebird must service their customers well at every brand touchpoint. Even though digital self-service is becoming the norm, knowledgeable contact centre agents are important to ensure a seamless transition between the online and offline touchpoints. Hence, the customer service agents behind the phone, i.e. the front-line staff, play a crucial role in providing the right support and offers for the customer, and consequently in delivering the Bluebird brand experience. To provide the customer service, the agents rely on information that comes from Bluebird. This thesis specifically focuses on the information about ancillaries. The ancillaries refer to all additional options that a customer can buy to enrich the flight experience. By offering ancillaries, the airline responds to the upcoming customer demand for personalised travel experiences. However, Bluebird’s provision of timely and complete ancillary information currently falls short. Therefore, this thesis aims to investigate how the ancillary information flow to the contact centres can be improved. This thesis makes use of a design approach. By means of qualitative methods, it is investigated how the information currently travels from the source to the agent, and how the involved people experience this information flow. The research reveals that the information passes through a four-step chain: it travels from the Ancillary Team and their colleagues (i.e. ancillary stakeholders), via Bluebird Customer Services and the contact centre Knowledge Management, to the agent. This current flow does not make use of a structured process and highly depends on individual proactivity. As a result, the information flow is found to be unorganised and inefficient. Furthermore, the research shows that for the ancillary stakeholders it is not clear wh, Strategic Product Design

In questa tesi studiamo tecniche formali per l'analisi del flusso di informazioni e per verificare proprietà di controllo in sistemi distribuiti modellati con reti di Petri. Il problema che affrontiamo consiste nel verificare se un agente che osserva solo una parte di un sistema è in grado di ottenere informazioni sulla parte nascosta. Studiamo questo problema partendo da due relazioni formali definite nella letteratura sulle transizioni della rete di Petri: reveals e excludes. Reveals modella un flusso di informazione positivo, ossia modella il fatto che dall'osservazione di una transizione della rete di Petri si deduce l'occorrenza di una transizione non osservabile; excludes modella un flusso di informazione negativo, ossia modella il fatto che dall'osservazione di una transizione della rete si deduce che un'altra non può essere occorsa. Consideriamo poi un problema di controllo: assumiamo che un agente possa controllare solo una parte delle transizioni della rete e osservare solo alcuni posti; vogliamo sapere se l'agente è in grado di forzare alcune proprietà sul sistema. Modelliamo il problema come un gioco asincrono a due giocatori sulla rete di Petri e studiamo nozioni di osservazione che tengano conto della natura concorrente del sistema. Proponiamo algoritmi per trovare strategie in alcuni casi particolari, facendo uso sia dell'unfolding che del grafo delle marcature, e studiamo la relazione tra il nostro modello e il modello delle strutture gioco concorrenti, introdotte per definire la logica temporale basata sui giochi ATL. Infine, esploriamo l'uso delle reti di Petri per modellare sistemi multi-agente asincroni. Consideriamo un modello definito sugli automi e mostriamo che può essere equivalentemente espresso attraverso le reti di Petri, in alcuni casi in modo più compatto rispetto alla rappresentazione con gli automi., In this work we study formal techniques for studying information flow and control properties in distributed systems modelled with Petri nets. The first problem that we tackle consists in checking whether an agent observing only part of a system is able to gather information about the hidden part. We study this problem starting from two formal relations defined in the literature on the transitions of the Petri net: reveals and excludes. Reveals models positive information flow, meaning that the observation of a transition gives information about the occurrence of another one; \emph{excludes} models negative information flow, meaning that observing a transition gives information about the non-occurrence of another one. We define some generalizations of these two relations and propose several algorithms to compute them on a particular class of Petri nets. We then consider a control problem: we assume that an agent can control only some transitions on the Petri net and observe only some places; we want to know whether the agent is able to enforce certain properties on the system. We model the problem as a two-player asynchronous game on the Petri net and study notions of observation that keep into account the concurrent nature of the system. We propose algorithms to find strategies in some particular cases, making use both of the unfolding and of the marking graph, and we study the relation between our model and concurrent game structures, introduced to define the game-based temporal logic ATL. Finally, we start to explore the use of Petri nets to model asynchronous multi-agent system. We consider a model defined on automata and show that it can be equivalently expressed with Petri nets, possibly in a more compact way.

Traceability is considered a crucial requirement to enable Circular Economy (CE). Product and process life-cycle data can facilitate circular asset management preserving the asset's value over time and reducing resource consumption. Many scholars point out how the loss of traceability data, lacking information reliability, and unstructured data are still barriers to the widespread application of CE. In the building façade sector, an increased interest on traceability is dictated by a growing demand for environmental product certifications. However, these aspects are often limited to collect data at supply chain stage, thus neglecting a huge amount of information produced during the asset service life. To foster an accessible and life-cycle oriented asset traceability, this research investigates the Internet of Things (IoT) as a potentially disruptive technology for supporting information management. The objective of this work is twofold: (i) to identify what façade life-cycle information is needed to promote CE and (ii) to clarify the enabling role of IoT in tracking, storing, and sharing such information. Through a scoping review combined with interviews to professionals, a theoretical framework structured on four key elements (stakeholders, information list, information management tools, and IoT) is proposed to fill the literature gap and support façade industry in the circular transition. Further research will have to be conducted to face the digital-physical integration issues and develop business models able to fully exploit traceability information value., Building Product Innovation

Media governance has changed substantially after Russia's attack on Ukraine. A digital Iron Curtain was put up, as social media companies withdrew or were banned in Russia and Russian state sponsored news outlets were the targets of EU sanctions and deplatforming. This study analyses how 29 states, including 18 EU members, have dealt with the media governance questions related to the informational dimension of Russia’s war on Ukraine. It appears that in only one country - Finland - did large private media outlets act quickly on their own initiative after the start of the military aggression against Ukraine to suspend the distribution of Russian news channels. There are examples that some companies in Austria and Latvia took similar actions, but the scale is smaller. In five countries - Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland - the national authorities issued instructions to suspend Russian media outlets shortly after the invasion, prior to the 1 March 2022 Council Regulation 2022/350 and even before the President of the European Commission announced on 27 February 2022 the intention to implement such a measure across the EU. Given the shortness of this "time window" it would be overly formal to give too much meaning to the question "Who acted first?" - private media companies or national governments. What matters is that access to certain Russian and Belarussian media outlets was suspended within a very short period as a result of coordinated activity between national authorities and private actors. There are no reports of non-compliance with the respective state instructions. Most EU Member State responses were confined to the transposition of the sanctions imposed against Russia at the supranational level, including the ban on Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, without taking further, more wide-ranging action. The transposition of Council Regulation 2022/350 was typically accompanied by communications by the respective regulatory agencies in EU Member States t

In this paper, we present a database and an interface on text reuse between newspapers and journals published in the Swedish language in Sweden and Finland during the 1645–1918 time frame. Using two national, digital newspaper collections, we detected their textual similarities with a computational method to study the textual migration, i.e., information flows, between the two countries. For purposes of this project, we developed a database of detected clusters of text reuse and an online interface to search, examine and analyse the transnational movement of information. The database, Text Reuse in the Swedish-language Press, 1645–1918, is accessible online and includes texts from over 1,100 newspapers and journals published at approximately 150 locations at various times during the 274-year time frame.

Det är vanligt förekommande att företag outsourcar logistiska aktiviteter genom samarbete med TPL-företag. Studien är baserad på företaget OBH Nordica som outsourcar lager- och transportlösningar till företaget Aditro Logistics. För att den interorganisatoriska relationen mellan leverantör och TPL-företag ska fungera på ett effektivt sätt är det viktigt att ha välfungerande koordineringsmekanismer mellan företagen. Den här studien fokuserar på claimshanteringen och hur den fungerar inom och mellan företagen. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur olika koordineringsmekanismer kan användas för att ta fram ett beslutsstödsunderlag för claimshanteringen mellan en leverantör och ett TPL-företag. Fokus ligger på att ta fram förbättringsförslag och skapa tydliga riktlinjer över hur arbetet bör gå tillväga innan ett beslut kring claimshanteringen tas. Resulterat bygger på den studerande relationen runt claimshantering mellan företagen och visar vikten av att ha en välfungerande koordinering. Studien har identifierat följande koordineringsmekanismer; kommunikations- och informationsflöde, relationer, kontrakt och betalningsmekanismer samt standardisering. Det har identifierats brister gällande relationen och kommunikationen mellan företagen på operativ nivå. Överflödig information i formuläret där claims registreras anses även det som ett problem eftersom det leder till misskommunikation och onödig mailkontakt med negativ ton. Ytterligare problem handlar om att OBH Nordica godkänner betydligt fler claims än Aditro Logistics och att Aditro inte använder sig av standardiserade svar., Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet

Background: The understanding of the inefficiencies that the road haulages suffer from is more important than ever, specifically in today's society where the environmental problems and technological development are rapidly increasing. The perception of the inefficiencies could support road haulage firms to improve their operations. In addition, industry and commerce can develop new technology to decrease the inefficiency in the industry. This master thesis will contribute to more knowledge regarding the inefficiencies that road haulages suffer from to favour road haulage firms and the society’s economic development. Purpose: The purpose of the master thesis is, to identify and visualize the root causes in information flow that leads to inefficiencies. The impact the inefficiencies have on the physical flow, will also be investigated.Methods: The research strategy adopted to fulfil the purpose of the thesis consist of a detailed empirical case study at two road haulage firms. The data were collected through semi- and un- structured interviews. The data were analysed with the data reduction approach. Furthermore, numerous adopted frameworks 7-waste framework, RCA & Ishikawa matrix, and data flow diagram from previous studies were used to analyse the derived data from the interviews. Results: The results revealed that road haulages were operating in similar processes and the conveyed information during an operation was similar between the two case firms. Most of the root causes in the information flow occurred during upstream operations for both case firms, which affected the downstream operations. There were 4 different types of inefficiencies that were similar in both case firms. The manual handling of information, misunderstanding during operations, customer requirements, and incorrect runs. Conclusions: The findings of this study prove that (1) the road haulage industry has a similar conveyed information flow throughout the conducted operations. (2) The root ca, Bakgrund: Att förstå den ineffektivitet som åkerierna lider av är viktigare än någonsin, särskilt i dagens samhälle där miljöproblem och den tekniska utvecklingen ökar snabbt. Förståelsen av ineffektivitet kan stödja åkeriföretag i arbetet mot att förbättra sin verksamhet. Dessutom kan industri och handel utveckla ny teknik för att minska ineffektivitet i branschen. Detta examensarbete kommer att bidra till mer kunskap om ineffektivitet som åkeriföretag lider av, med målet att gynna åkeribranschen och samhällets ekonomiska utveckling.Syfte: Syftet med examensarbetet är att identifiera och visualisera rotorsakerna i informationsflödet som kan leda till ineffektivitet samt undersöka dess påverkan på det fysiska flödet.Metod: Den forskningsstrategi som använts för att uppfylla syftet med uppsatsen bestod av en detaljerad empirisk fallstudie på två åkeriföretag. Data samlades in genom semi- och ostrukturerade intervjuer för att sedan analyseras med den så kallade data reduktion metoden. Vidare har ett flertal ramverk från tidigare studier, så som ”7-waste framework”, ”data flow diagram” och ”RCA & Ishikawa matrisen” använts för att analysera data från intervjuerna för att uppfylla syftet med studien.Resultat: Resultatet påvisade att åkerier inom branschen opererade med snarlika processer. Den information som förmedlades under en operation var likartad mellan de två firmorna i fallstudien. De flesta rotorsakerna i informationsflödet inträffade i uppströmsverksamheten för båda firmorna i fallstudien, vilket påverkade nedströmsverksamheten. Det fanns fyra olika ineffektivitetsproblem som var likartade i de båda fallstudierna. Manuell hantering av information, missförstånd under drift, kundkrav och felaktiga körningar.Slutsatser: Slutsatserna av denna studie visar, (1) att informationsflödet som förmedlas under operationer för åkeribranschen är likartade, (2) att rotorsakerna i informationsflödet som leder

I dagsläget finns det brister gällande datadelning mellan verkande aktörer itransportsektorn. Denna fallstudie fokuserar på vägtransport med avseende på last miledelivery samt sjöfartstransport och järnvägstransport. Mycket information finns ännu intedigitalt vilket gör att den blir otillgänglig för samtliga aktörer som är inblandade ileveranskedjan. Det finns inte något datadelningssystem för de inblandade aktörerna attdela sin data i. Detta gör i sin tur att det saknas en samlad lägesbild över logistikkedjanför gods. Med hjälp av digitalisering kan det uppnås en samlad lägesbild, det vill säga attalla inblandade ska få ta del av samma information samtidigt, vilket kan leda till att mankan uppnå effektivitet i distributionssystemet samt kunna reagera i realtid. Genom att använda sig av innovationsmodellen Living Labs kan man skapa projekt därman för samman aktörer och tar reda på aktörernas informationsbehov. Living Labs är eninnovationsmodell där aktörssamverkan står i centrum. Syftet med denna fallstudie är attutvärdera om innovationsmodellen Living Labs är en lämplig modell för att digitaliserainformationsflödet inom logistikkedjor för gods, genom att jämföra litteratur medrespondenternas svar från intervjuerna. Denna fallstudie ger en genomgång avlitteraturen, med hjälp av en litteraturstudie. Studien har även samlat in information frånintervjuer. Resultatet av denna fallstudie visar att innovationsmodellen Living Labs är enlämplig modell för att digitalisera informationsflödet inom logistikkedjor för gods. Däremot finns det fortfarande forskningsgap när det gäller hur Living Labs påverkardigitalisering av informationsflödet inom logistikkedjor för gods. Nyckelord: Living Labs, Digitalisering, Logistikkedjor för gods, Informationsflöde, Innovation, In the current situation there are shortcomings regarding data sharing between activeactors in the transport sector. This case study focuses on road transport regarding last miledelivery as well as shipping and rail transport. A lot of information is not yet availabledigitally, which makes it inaccessible to all actors that are involved in the supply chain. There is also no data sharing system for the actors that are involved to share their data. This in turn means that there is no overall picture of the situation in the logistic chain forgoods. With the help of digitization, an overall picture of the situation can be achieved, which means that everyone involved should be able to access the same information at thesame time, which can lead to efficiency in the distribution system and give actors theopportunity to be able to react in real time. By using the innovation model Living Labs, you can create projects where you bringactors together and find out the actors information needs. Living Labs is an innovationmodel where actor collaboration is at the center. The purpose of this case study is toevaluate whether the innovation model Living Labs is a suitable model for digitizing theflow of information within logistics chains for goods, by comparing literature with therespondents answers from the interviews. This case study provides a review of theliterature, using a literature study. This study also collected information from interviews. The results of this case study show that the innovation model Living Labs is a suitablemodel for digitizing the flow of information within logistics chains for goods. However, there are still research gaps regarding how Living Labs affects the digitalisation of theflow of information within logistics chains for goods. Keywords: Living Labs, Digitalisation, Logistics chains for goods, Information flow, Innovation

International 'naming and shaming' campaigns rely on domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) for information on local human rights conditions. To stop this flow of information, some governments restrict CSOs, for example by limiting their access to funding. Do such restrictions reduce international naming and shaming campaigns that rely on information from domestic CSOs? This article argues that on the one hand, restrictions may reduce CSOs' ability and motives to monitor local abuses. On the other hand, these organizations may mobilize against restrictions and find new ways of delivering information on human rights violations to international publics. Using a cross-national dataset and in-depth evidence from Egypt, the study finds that low numbers of restrictions trigger shaming by international non-governmental organizations. Yet once governments impose multiple types of restrictions, it becomes harder for CSOs to adapt, resulting in fewer international shaming campaigns.

Amdahl's law implies that even small sequential bottlenecks can seriously limit the scalability of multi-threaded programs. To achieve scalability, developers must painstakingly identify sequential bottlenecks in their program and attempt to eliminate these bottlenecks by either changing synchronization strategies or rearchitecting and rewriting code with sequential bottlenecks. This can require significant effort by the developer to understand the best approach to address sequential bottlenecks.We bring a new tool, information flow, to the problem of understanding sequential bottlenecks. Information flow is powerful in that it helps developers understand whether a bottleneck is fundamental to the computation, or merely an artifact of the implementation. We combine information flow with field conflict analysis to help developers understand the limits and potential benefits of eliminating sequential bottlenecks through redesigning the locking strategy. Finally, we develop schedule impact analysis to help understand the potential impacts of optimizations before implementing them. We develop an implementation of this in FlowProf. We have evaluated FlowProf on a set of multi-threaded Java applications and manually examined the code to validate FlowProf's findings.

In distributed systems, the occurrence of an action can give information about the occurrence of other actions. This can be an unwanted situation when “high” actions of the system need to be kept secret, while allowing users to observe “low” actions. If it is possible to deduce information about occurrence of high actions by observing only low actions, then the system suffers from an unwanted information flow. “Reveals” and “excludes” relations were introduced for modelling and analysing such an information flow among actions of a distributed system that is modelled via Petri nets. In this paper, we provide a formal basis for computing reveals and excludes relations of 1-safe free-choice Petri nets. We introduce the “maximal-step computation tree” to represent the behaviour of a distributed system under maximal-step semantics. We define a finite prefix of the tree called “full prefix” and we show that it is adequate for analysing information flow by means of reveals and excludes relations.

Systems for space are a challenge to construct. By creating the right requirements, the probability of creating the desired systems is increased. This thesis investigates the information flow between the NewSpace company Unibap, and their customers, concerning environment requirements, operational scenarios, and mission objectives. The investigation was conducted through a case study involving interviews, surveys, observation, and documents. The surveys were answered by personnel at the NewSpace company, and were followed by an interview. These tools were used to identify the important factors to understand while developing Unibaps products for space. The purpose of this thesis was to determine what information should be asked of the customers in the project. It was found that the environment, operational scenarios, and interfaces were the most important to understand at the beginning of the project. A document with questions to ask the customers at the beginning of the project was produced, as well as a process to improve the information flow., System utvecklade för rymden är en utmaning att konstruera. Genom att skapa de rätta kravställningarna, ger det större potential att det system som efterfrågas skapas. Det här arbetet undersöker informationsflödet mellan NewSpace företaget Unibap och dess kunder, inom områdena rymdmiljö, användarfall, och missions mål. Undersökningen genomfördes med fallstudier, som innehöll: intervjuer, enkäter, observation och dokumentläsning. Enkäterna följdes upp av en intervju, deltagarna i intervjun och enkäterna var anställda på Unibap. Med dessa verktyg identifierades viktiga faktorer för att utveckla Unibaps produkt. Målet med arbetet var att identifiera vilken information som behöver informeras från kunderna till Unibap. Det visade sig att rymdmiljön, användarfall och gränssnitt till andra system var det viktigaste att veta. Arbetet resulterade i ett dokument med information att fråga kunderna om i början av projektet, samt även en process hur informationsflödet kan förbättras.

Program analyses based on Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) abstractions can be circumvented using microarchitectural vulnerabilities, permitting unwanted program information flows even when proven ISA-level properties ostensibly rule them out. However, the low abstraction levels found below ISAs, e.g., in microarchitectures defined in hardware description languages, may obscure information flow and hinder analysis tool development. We present a machine-checked formalization in the HOL4 theorem prover of a language, MIL, that abstractly describes microarchitectural in-order and out-of-order program execution and enables reasoning about low-level program information flows. In particular, MIL programs can exhibit information flow side channels when executed out-of-order, as compared to a reference in-order execution. We prove memory consistency between MIL's out-of-order and in-order dynamic semantics in HOL4, and define a notion of conditional noninterference for MIL programs which rules out trace-driven cache side channels. We then demonstrate how to establish conditional noninterference for programs via a novel semi-automated bisimulation based verification strategy inside HOL4 that we apply to several examples. Based on our results, we believe MIL is suitable as a translation target for ISA code to enable information flow analyses., Part of ISBN 9783854480532QC 20230630

In a distributed system, in which an action can be either “hidden” or “observable”, an unwanted information flow might arise when occurrences of observable actions give information about occurrences of hidden actions. A collection of relations, i.e. reveals and its variants, is used to model such information flow among transitions of a Petri net. This paper introduces a parametrised generalisation to the existing reveals relations and provides a formal basis for information-flow analysis of bounded equal-conflict PT systems.

Problem description: Tetra Pak is currently using a push system for most movements of material between their component warehouse, the yard and the PPCL production site and are interested in how a potential implementation of a pull system could affect the efficiency of the material flow. Purpose:The purpose of this master thesis is to create decision– and design propositions for determining when it is appropriate to utilize a pull system and how a pull system can be designed at Tetra Pak PPCL. Research objectives: RO1: Describe the current state of the material flow between warehouse 111, the yard, and the PPCL production. RO2: Identify how the current material flow between warehouse 111, the yard, and the PPCL production is performing. RO3: Determine which parts of the material flow between warehouse 111, the yard, and the PPCL production that are suitable for a pull system. RO4: Define, at determined suitable parts, how the material flow between warehouse 111, the yard, and the PPCL production can be set-up as a pull system. Methodology: The methodology to accomplish the purpose have been a design research process in six steps. The six steps have been (1) identifying the problem, (2) framing it, (3) creating an analytical framework to solve it, (4) theorizing the findings from the second and the third step, (5) apply the analytical framework, and (6) communicate the solution. Steps 2, 3, 4, and 5 was done as an iterative process. Conclusion/Findings: The thesis resulted in decision propositions for determining when it is appropriate to utilize a pull system and design propositions for how to design a pull system. These propositions were used to develop recommendations for Tetra Pak PPCL. To develop the propositions an analytical framework was created. This framework was a useful tool for accomplishing the purpose and can be used in other similar situations., Push and pull are two fundamental principles for handling movement of material. It is not obvious which principle that is preferable and when determining between push and pull it requires a thorough understanding of them. As of today, studies that are comparing when a push system or a pull system is appropriate are limited in numbers. This thesis investigates when it is appropriate to utilize a pull system and how a pull system can be designed. Tetra Pak is a company that has been utilizing a push system for movements of material between their warehouse and their production. To decide when it is appropriate to utilize a pull system and how a pull system can be designed, their material flow have been investigated. To accomplish this a framework was developed. The framework provided guidance for what data that should be collected and how it should be analyzed. Further, the result of applying the framework was guidelines for when and how to use a pull system. This framework was applied at Tetra Pak and the process of applying it consisted of several steps. To start with the current state was mapped and evaluated. This was done based on interviews, observations, and existing research. The mapping of the current state and the evaluation gave an indication of how the material flow were currently functioning and what the current context at Tetra Pak was. To determine when it is appropriate to utilize a pull system the characteristics of the material flow was analyzed. The characteristics investigated were product variety, production complexity, demand variety, and the presence of disruptive behavior. This investigation of the characteristics of the material flow resulted in the creation of several guidelines for when it is appropriate to utilize a pull system. For determining how a pull system can be utilized two parts were performed. Firstly, guidelines for when different sorts of pull methods would be the most efficient to utilize was created. Five characteristics of the

Across our digital lives, two powerful forces of data utility and data privacy push and pull against each other. In response, technologies have been designed to help navigate this tension, by revealing, or leaking, information that could be useful to an adversary in exchange for some added utility. For many of these technologies, there is uncertainty about how harmful these leaks are. How much security and privacy are we sacrificing? Under what circumstances are these technologies safe to use? To bring clarity to these compromises between security and utility, this dissertation applies the information-theoretic framework of quantitative information flow (QIF), which models systems as channels correlating secret inputs with observable outputs. The QIF framework can determine an optimal adversary's expected probability of success, and thereby isolate the effect that these technologies have on security and privacy. In this work, we apply QIF to three applications: We first examine two forms of property-revealing encryption: equality- and order-revealing encryption. These techniques allow database management systems to respond to queries and sort much faster without direct access to sensitive values, but the leakage implications are still unclear. The third application is local differential privacy and the shuffle model. Differential privacy aims to protect the privacy of individuals participating in statistical databases but must balance utility and privacy. The shuffle model can improve this balance, but exactly how much security it is providing is uncertain. Through novel combinatorics and exact calculations, we precisely quantify the leakage of these applications under different parameters and relevant adversaries. For each application, we provide clarity about how much information is leaked and under what circumstances an application could be safe to deploy.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) can be integrated at application level and data level. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive, systematic review on data-level BIM/GIS integration from the perspective of information flow. Papers from academic journals, conference proceedings, and book chapters were collected and analysed. The main outcomes and findings of this review are as follows. (1) A unified framework that incorporates all data processing tasks for BIM/GIS data integration was developed. (2) Most problems regarding BIM-to-GIS data conversion have been solved, which enables application-level BIM/GIS integration, while those unsolved problems are mainly related to representation transformation and semantics mapping. (3) To ensure a fluent information flow, BIM models should be more reliable, the conversion paths should be more robust and efficient, and a more flexible data model on the GIS side is in need.

The production and use of chemicals has grown exponentially over the past 50 years. Although the knowledge of hazards and risks associated with chemicals towards humans and the environment has increased, we know frightenedly little about how dangerous these might become when part of finished products. Companies now need to be more concerned about which chemicals exist in their products. For the company investigated in the present study, Alfa Laval, the information is needed to be able to meet potential future legislations, and to move towards a circular economy. This study investigates the readiness of suppliers to provide Full Material Declaration (FMD) for components used in one of the company’s gasketed plate heat exchangers (GPHE). The study also uses an explorative literature review that serves as a mean to increase the understanding of the complexity of the topic at stake. The FMD investigation shows that the company investigated in this case study has knowledge about 93,2% of all chemicals in one of their most important products. The case study suggests that the most pressing challenges/barriers the suppliers for this product experience when being asked to provide FMD, are related to intellectual property, trade secrets and difficulties in information flow in the supply chain. To furthermore understand what challenges/barriers suppliers experience when asked to declare chemicals, a questionnaire was sent out to 48 of the company’s suppliers. The questionnaire consisted of three quantifiable questions that could be answered with yes or no, and five qualitative questions, where the respondents were asked to answer the questions in his/her own words. In total, 15 suppliers answered the questionnaire. Some of the challenges/barriers are difficulties in information flow, administration work, sharing information which can be considered intellectual property, the complexity of materials, and if they have a large selection of traded articles. The study confirms the d, De flesta av oss associerar nog kemikalier med något negativt, men sanningen är att kemikalier utgör en förutsättning för mycket av den välfärd som vi ser idag. Tvärtemot vad man kan tro, så är det inte bara i produkter som plast, färg, lösningsmedel, med mera som dessa förekommer, utan även i produkter som räddar liv, till exempel i utrustning inom sjukvården och för vattenrening. Därför är de mellan 40 000 och 60 000 kemikalier som cirkulerar på den globala marknaden en viktig del i vardagen för miljontals människor. Samtidigt finns det ett okänt antal av dessa kemikalier som utgör potentiella hot mot natur och människor. Den ökade användning av kemikalier har resulterat i fler och hårdare lagkrav som tillverkningsindustrin måste följa. Men för att kunna möta dessa krav behöver industrin själva ha kunskap och kontroll över vilka kemikalier deras produkter innehåller. För tillverkningsindustrin kan det vara en stor utmaning att få en hundraprocentig överblick över det kemiska innehållet i ingående komponenter. Detta gäller även Alfa Laval, ett svenskt företag med global försäljning och verksamhet och med höga ambitioner för sitt hållbarhetsarbete. De ville undersöka hur stor procentandel de kunde få kunskap om genom att dels titta på den information de själva redan har (i form av materialstandarder), dels genom att undersöka sina leverantörers möjlighet att tillhandahålla en fullständig materialdeklaration, kort sagt vilka kemiska substanser komponenterna de levererar till företaget i fråga innehåller. Den produkt man valde att undersöka är en av företagets bästsäljande, en Gasketed Heat Exchanger (värmeväxlare) som finns i olika modeller. Studien kartlade en enhet som kallas T15. Genom att lägga ihop informationen från materialstandarder med redovisningen från T15-modellens fullständiga materialdeklaration från fem underleverantörer, har företaget i fråga nu kunskap om hela 93,2% av produktens totala kemiska sammansättning. Metoden kan användas för alla produkter

This paper presents a portable toolkit, SwitchNet, for extracting relations from textual input. We summarize four data protocols for relation extraction tasks, including relation classification, relation extraction, triple extraction, and distant supervision relation extraction. This neural architecture is modular, so it can take as input data at different stages of the information extraction process (simple text, text and entities or entity pairs as relation candidates) and compute the rest of the process (named entity recognition and relation classification). We systematically design four information flows to integrate the above protocols by sharing network building blocks and switching different information flows. This framework can extract multiple triples (subject, predicate, object) in one pass. This framework enhances the use of relation classification models in end-to-end triple extraction by inferring pairs of entities of interest and using the shared representation mechanism. © 2022 The Author(s)

This paper investigates how null messages can transfer information in fault-prone synchronous systems. The notion of an f-resilient message block is defined and is shown to capture the fundamental communication pattern for knowledge transfer. In general, this pattern combines both null messages and explicit messages. It thus provides a fault-tolerant extension of the classic notion of a message-chain. Based on the above, we provide tight necessary and sufficient characterizations of the generalized communication patterns that can serve to solve the distributed tasks of (nice-run) Signalling and Ordered Response.

We propose a new sheaf semantics for secure information flow over a space of abstract behaviors, based on synthetic domain theory: security classes are open/closed partitions, types are sheaves, and redaction of sensitive information corresponds to restricting a sheaf to a closed subspace. Our security-aware computational model satisfies termination-insensitive noninterference automatically, and therefore constitutes an intrinsic alternative to state of the art extrinsic/relational models of noninterference. Our semantics is the latest application of Sterling and Harper’s recent re-interpretation of phase distinctions and noninterference in programming languages in terms of Artin gluing and topos-theoretic open/closed modalities. Prior applications include parametricity for ML modules, the proof of normalization for cubical type theory by Sterling and Angiuli, and the cost-aware logical framework of Niu et al. In this paper we employ the phase distinction perspective twice: first to reconstruct the syntax and semantics of secure information flow as a lattice of phase distinctions between "higher" and "lower" security, and second to verify the computational adequacy of our sheaf semantics with respect to a version of Abadi et al.’s dependency core calculus to which we have added a construct for declassifying termination channels.

Information theory provides a fundamental framework for the quantification of information flows through channels, formally Markov kernels. However, quantities such as mutual information and conditional mutual information do not necessarily reflect the causal nature of such flows. We argue that this is often the result of conditioning based on σ-algebras that are not associated with the given channels. We propose a version of the (conditional) mutual information based on families of σ-algebras that are coupled with the underlying channel. This leads to filtrations which allow us to prove a corresponding causal chain rule as a basic requirement within the presented approach., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

The brain endogenously generates electrical activity that arises from the complex, nonlinear interactions of its components. During sleep, large amplitude, slow oscillations as well as 10-16 Hz rhythms known as sleep spindles are generated in the cortex and thalamus respectively, and their coupling has been shown to bolster our memory capacities by facilitating cortical plasticity. Identifying where particular sleep rhythms are generated, how they co-occur with other regions, and whether rhythms differ in frequency or other characteristics can inform mechanisms for how they coordinate information exchange during sleep. In this dissertation, I characterized the cortical and thalamic activity of sleep spindles, theta bursts (~6 Hz), a novel sleep rhythm identified here, and the coupling of spindles and theta bursts with slow waves using intracranial recordings from epileptic patients. I also report regional differences in spindle properties, largely inaccessible to non-invasive recordings, that propose a modified view of spindle dynamics across the cortex. The most common characterizations of brain dynamics, including the sleep rhythms reported here, are largely based on linear time-frequency analyses. However, because the brain is a high-dimensional, nonlinear system, applying linear techniques alone may not sufficiently capture the relevant dynamical features. To address this, I helped develop nonlinear tools, based on Delay Differential Analysis (DDA), for analyzing neural time series. I evaluated these tools in simulated, chaotic systems, which are suitable models for recurrent, continuous, and nonlinear dynamics. Specifically, I investigated whether given a set of recorded time series, can we (1) assess whether two signals are causally interacting and (2) rank signals by their amount of dynamical information about the original system. These applications of DDA, in tandem with traditional linear techniques, can improve our understanding of underlying brain activit

The international trade sector is projected to undergo a significant shift in the next years, with transparency and trust being the most pressing concerns to be resolved as part of the Industry 4.0 revolution (PwC, 2019). International trade consists of several complex process involving several intermediaries (actors). Due to the complexity in international trade, the amount of errors in manual paperwork, delayed order deliveries and the deterioration in quality of products throughout its shipment may arise. As the industry tries to deliver precise and realtime information that can be transmitted to many parties, the volume of data increases., Management of Technology (MoT)

Boing Global S. de R.L., located in the free zone of Colón, Panama, has a problem associated with noncompliance with the service promises established for the shipping area, which results in fines, penalties and additional costs. These fines range from 10% to 25% of the value of the orders; Boing Global has paid around US$180,000 in the last three years for non-compliance. Out-of-time delivery is largely due to poor tracking of Delivery Status, the format in which delivery information is recorded: the problem of data collection and use, since there are no real-time indicators to use, means that the different areas are not synchronized, which directly affects the flow of information. Since the data could be transformed into valuable information that could reduce the losses associated with the payment of fines for non-compliance, the proposal is to: i) study the baseline information, ii) propose strategies that could improve the current situation and, finally, iii) evaluate the importance of the proposal. The above with a view to improving the flow of information and indicators. This study is of great importance to the company at an economic and management level with a view to continuously improve processes and generate value for stakeholders. The solution will have an approach to reduce fines and penalties; additionally, data collection and interpretation can improve the flow of information in the organization., La compañía Boing Global S. de R.L., ubicada en la zona libre de Colón (Panamá), tiene una problemática asociada a incumplimientos en promesas de servicio establecidas para el área de despachos, acarreando con ello multas, sanciones y costos adicionales. Dichas multas varían entre el 10 % y el 25 % del valor de las órdenes; Boing Global ha pagado en los últimos tres años alrededor de 180.000 USD por incumplimientos. El despacho fuera de tiempo se debe en gran medida al deficiente seguimiento del “Estatus de Entregas”, un formato donde es consignada la información de entregas: la problemática para la recolección y uso de datos, dado que no hay indicadores utilizables en tiempo real, descoordina las diferentes áreas, afectando directamente el flujo de información.Como los datos podrían transformarse en información valiosa que disminuya las pérdidas asociadas al pago de multas por incumplimientos, se plantea: i) estudiar la línea base de información, ii) plantear estrategias que puedan mejorar la situación actual y, por último, iii) evaluar la importancia de la propuesta. Lo anterior con miras a mejorar el flujo de información y los indicadores.El presente estudio tiene una gran importancia para la compañía a nivel económico y de gestión con miras a mejorar continuamente los procesos y generar valor para las partes interesadas. La solución tendrá un enfoque que permita reducir multas y sanciones; adicionalmente, la recopilación de datos y la interpretación de los mismos puede mejorar el flujo de información de la organización.

I/O devices are the critical components that allow a computing system to communicate with the external environment. From the perspective of a device, interactions can be divided into two parts, with the processor (mainly memory operations by the driver) and through the communication medium with external devices. In this paper, we present an abstract model of I/O devices and their drivers to describe the expected results of their execution, where the communication between devices is made explicit and the device-to-device information flow is analyzed. In order to handle general I/O functionalities, both half-duplex (transmission and reception) and full-duplex (sending and receiving simultaneously) data transmissions are considered. We propose a refinement-based approach that concretizes a correct-by-construction abstract model into an actual hardware device and its driver. As an example, we formalize the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) with a driver. In the HOL4 interactive theorem prover, we verified the refinement between these models by establishing a weak bisimulation. We show how this result can be used to establish both functional correctness and information flow security for both single devices and when devices are connected in an end-to-end fashion., Part of ISBN 978-3-85448-046-4QC 20211117, CERCES

Web pages aggressively track users for a variety of purposes from targeted advertisements to enhanced authentication. As browsers move to restrict traditional cookie-based tracking, web pages increasingly move to tracking based on browser fingerprinting. Unfortunately, the state-of-the-art to detect fingerprinting in browsers is often error-prone, resorting to imprecise heuristics and crowd-sourced filter lists. This paper presents EssentialFP, a principled approach to detecting fingerprinting on the web. We argue that the pattern of (i) gathering information from a wide browser API surface (multiple browser-specific sources) and (ii) communicating the information to the network (network sink) captures the essence of fingerprinting. This pattern enables us to clearly distinguish fingerprinting from similar types of scripts like analytics and polyfills. We demonstrate that information flow tracking is an excellent fit for exposing this pattern. To implement EssentialFP we leverage, extend, and deploy JSFlow, a state-of-the-art information flow tracker for JavaScript, in a browser. We illustrate the effectiveness of EssentialFP to spot fingerprinting on the web by evaluating it on two categories of web pages: one where the web pages perform analytics, use polyfills, and show ads, and one where the web pages perform authentication, bot detection, and fingerprinting-enhanced Alexa top pages.

Hyperproperties are commonly used in computer security to define information-flow policies and other requirements that reason about the relationship between multiple computations. In this paper, we study a novel class of hyperproperties where the individual computation paths are chosen by the strategic choices of a coalition of agents in a multi-agent system. We introduce HyperATL^*, an extension of computation tree logic with path variables and strategy quantifiers. HyperATL^* can express strategic hyperproperties, such as that the scheduler in a concurrent system has a strategy to avoid information leakage. HyperATL^* is particularly useful to specify asynchronous hyperproperties, i.e., hyperproperties where the speed of the execution on the different computation paths depends on the choices of the scheduler. Unlike other recent logics for the specification of asynchronous hyperproperties, our logic is the first to admit decidable model checking for the full logic. We present a model checking algorithm for HyperATL^* based on alternating word automata, and show that our algorithm is asymptotically optimal by providing a matching lower bound. We have implemented a prototype model checker for a fragment of HyperATL^*, able to check various security properties on small programs.