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Purpose: This paper presents a novel low-power, low input offset rail-to-rail comparator that is suitable for a digital dominant successive approximation resistor analog-to-digital converter. The proposed comparator is based on traditional inverters cascaded to amplify analog signals and digital logic level conversion. The absence of a direct path between the high-swing output node and the input node restricts kickback noise. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed circuit is designed and simulated using UMC 28 nm and 40 nm CMOS technology. The simulated power consumption using UMC 40 nm CMOS technology is 6.2084 μW at 1.1 V (330.8nW at 700 mV) supply voltage at the 2.5 MHz clock frequency. Similarly, simulated power consumption using UMC 28 nm technology is 0.04104μW at 900 mV (0.0097μW at 600 mV) and supply voltage operating at 66.66 MHz clock frequency with a resolution of a maximum of 12 bits, therefore, a reduction of more than 90% in power consumption observed by scaling technology node. Findings: The conventional power-efficient clock-controlled latched comparator does not have a static current during the entire operation. The main drawbacks are the limited input range and the the kickback noise. However, a large voltage swing on the drain of a differential pair, due to this current feeding through a parasitic drain gate capacitor to the input node and the presence of source impedance, results in kickback noise. The performance of the ADC can be hampered by excessive kickback noise, which can eventually cause an incorrect comparator output. An inverter-based comparator is reported, where the input range is rail-to-rail and operates at moderate speed. Modern scaled technologies have better matching among transistors, i.e. matching of switching threshold voltage achieved by selecting suitable aspect ratios of transistors (cascaded inverters). Inverter-based dynamic comparators are inherently power-scalable and switching threshold voltage scales with supply voltage variation. Therefore, the amplification operation is not hampered by the reduction of the supply voltage. Originality/value: The proposed architecture is compared with a set of existing hardware architectures to analyse various design metrics, such as low input offset, power scalability to maintain the resolution of the comparator, and low kickback noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent attention to public service logic (PSL) has resulted in the creation of several theoretical guidelines for value creation. This empirical study applies PSL framework to explore how PSL is fit to and can adapt to the evolving landscape of the digitalization of public services. This research is based on 12 semi-structured interviews with managers of digital health services in Norway. Our results demonstrate that digital technology alters service users' involvement in value co-creation, helps solve capacity problems, empowers service users to take care of themselves, and cultivates several societal values but additional resources facilitating the co-creation process are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines e-lending dynamics in Scandinavian public libraries, by exploring the relationship between libraries and publishing houses. We ask how representatives of both fields perceive the public library’s role. Public libraries and publishers have traditionally served different roles in the book sphere: the library as a key cultural policy institution providing access to information and culture, and the publishers as involved in the production of books, operating on commercial premises. This relationship is affected by the change from ownership to licensing of digital book collections, which occurs along with changes on the national book markets. As a theoretical and analytical tool, the study uses the institutional logics perspective to explore the relations between different perceptions. We argue that this relationship can be illuminated through the dynamics of public service logic, market logic and digital logic. The study is empirically based on 26 in-depth interviews interviews with representatives of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish major libraries and trade publishers. Findings indicate that the relationship is nuanced and multifaceted, more than if it relied on a simple opposition between the public and the market. Both libraries and publishers share a common understanding of public service and market logics; however, they differ in perceptions of library’s role which is amplified by digital logic. The study also indicates that e-lending dynamics are influenced by cultural policies but with different outcomes in the three countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital servitisation has emerged as an important strategy to enhance industrial companies' competitiveness. Leveraging the IIoT (industrial internet of thing) platform is considered an essential way to facilitate digital servitisation. Selecting an appropriate IIoT platform from numerous alternatives in the market is a difficult task for the firms due to lack of deep understanding of the required IIoT platform capabilities for deploying industrial service. To help firms make wise decision, we propose a feasible multi-criteria decision making framework for IIoT platform selection. Firstly, a practice-oriented technical-managerial-service criteria system is derived from typical platform leverage logics for digital servitisation. Next, an integrative approach combining cloud hierarchical BWM (best-worst method) and cloud TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) is proposed for selecting the best IIoT platform. Using this approach, the criteria weights and the ranking of potential platforms can be accurately determined by considering the fuzziness and randomness of linguistic decision information. Finally, a case study of a Chinese crane manufacturer illustrates the feasibility and reliability of the proposed framework. The analysis results can help the managers find the best IIoT platform and provide them with deep insight and direction for leveraging the IIoT platform towards digital servitisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advancements in digital circuits have led to the development of very complex and large assemblies of logic gates that are electronically integrated together to synthesize highly effective electronics, microprocessors and computer systems. However, the complexity of these devices must be succinctly simplified to achieve simplest circuits. The functions of some logic gates in the circuits must be inverted to minimize the existence of noise and other sources of interference that can distort the performance of the circuits. Besides, most circuit designers and programmers often oversight thorough diagnosis of the Boolean expressions for designing digital circuits. This paper proposes 26 new theorems of digital logic. The proven theorems demonstrate that logic gates are prominently embedded within the elements of hexadecimal notations and the Boolean expressions that are used for designing digital circuits, synthesizing and inverting the functions of six different logic gates during the simplification of complex digital circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technology is profoundly shaping the Chinese governance paradigm. This study presents a multilayered theoretical model comprising the "tool empowerment layer-organizational change layer-system upgrading layer" to elucidate the impacts and underlying logic of digital technology in reshaping this governance paradigm, showing that it is undergoing spiral advancement and incremental optimization. Central-local relations show a transition from "top-down decentralization" to "unified integration"; the intergovernmental structural paradigm shows a transition from "congruent responsibilities" to "integrated collaboration"; risk governance shows a transition from "reactive response" to "proactive prevention"; interface communication shows a transition from "vague delay" to "agile governance"; and finally, resource allocation shows a transition from "unidirectional allocation" to "bidirectional coupling." These transitions underscore three key logics: technological tool empowerment, organizational adaptive learning, and systemic evolution. The integration of digital technology into government governance is not only reshaping state-society relations but also promoting a dynamic, interconnected, and adaptable governance ecosystem, facilitating harmonious progress between the state and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrasting with readings of his work that strive to shackle the author to the traditional French nineteenth-century literary canon, this article argues that Michel Houellebecq can be understood as a novelist of the Facebook generation. To put it another way, this article considers what happens when a novelist who began his literary career stressing the insufficiency of literature (in Extension du domaine de la lutte, 1994) keeps on writing. Not only does he persist, but he does so against the background of an ever-accelerating evolution in the technologies, channels and modes of reading towards a post-literate age. This article thus considers the cultural logics of the digital moment—including re/appropriation, information overload, online trolling and the curation of online identities—and how they illuminate the themes, texture and politics of Houellebecq's work. This argument is illustrated through examples drawn from Houellebecq's Sérotonine (2019) and also briefly considers how the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm might prove a helpful frame through which to view the work of the French novelist. Sérotonine, I argue, is far from the novelist's most accomplished novel, but demonstrates an acute sensitivity to the forms and structures of contemporary online experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hardware-based memory-efficient sequence alignment architecture is described in this paper. This paper expresses a comprehensive blueprint of the hardware implementation of compact sequence alignment for pair-wise global alignment technique to achieve high-throughput processing. This architecture uses SRAM and only a small amount of digital logic circuitry to perform elementary operations of sequence alignment in real time. Additionally, this alignment engine does not require any preprocessing operations like in most of the existing alignment approaches do. Furthermore, it does not call for any sort of comparison mechanism for preparing final sequence alignment by the alignment co-processor. The entire architecture is simulated and synthesized in FPGA board for numerous cases considering dissimilar pseudo-randomly generated sequence pairs with variable sequence lengths ranging from 16 to 2048 nucleotides. The proposed design exhibits compact alignment of the sequences that leads to the identification of close similarity between the sequences under test. Moreover, the proposed alignment engine takes significantly less amount of time, ≈64–95% less time, and ≈85–99% less amount of memory space than existing alignment approaches. The overall system performance is studied with respect to Millions Alignments Per Second (MAPS) and exhibits ≈55–75% more sequence alignments of same set of DNA sequences in a stipulated time compared to existing schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The miasma of misinformation has become globally pervasive, infecting millions of people with false beliefs and conspiracies. This conceptual study examines the role of media in the creation, sustenance, and propagation of misinformation, by looking into the economic structuring of media industries. Traditionally, media relied on the dual product model that rendered their function of informing the public a secondary concern, as their profitability depended on expanding their viewership. Pervasiveness of misinformation in the contemporary media landscape is aided by the emerging "triple product model" as the economic logic of the digital media platforms. The valorization of the users' data has become a lucrative "third product." This shift in the form of communication processes takes place in social media platforms through the notion of "phatic communication," a concept that has been underexplored by media and consumer studies literature so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design, analysis, and prototyping of an electronically controllable beamforming monopole antenna (ECBMA), which could be a good candidate for ceil-mounted wireless telecommunication systems, are reported. The proposed ECBMA targeting the 2.45 GHz center frequency is based on the 'on-off' ground reflectors, which are connected to the main ground layer by twelve RF switches to implement digital logic states. There are twelve ground reflectors symmetrically positioned over azimuthal angle direction in the ECBMA structure controlled by RF switches and a microcontroller unit, thus resulting in a pattern change when the states of the switches change logically. The designed ECBMA has the following three main features. First, it has a good and stable reflection coefficient (S11) characteristic at the 2.45 GHz centre frequency. Second, it has a wideband characteristic between 2.15 and 2.85 GHz (700 MHz operational bandwidth). Third, it has the capability to create single, double, or multi-beam characteristics (multi-purpose) which is a highly desired feature in many modern wireless communication systems mainly suitable for indoor applications. The prototype of our ECBMA is fabricated, and the performance analysis is investigated experimentally and S11 and radiation characteristics have good performance and are in good agreement with the simulation results. The proposed ECBMA has a good candidate for wireless telecommunication purposes such as WLAN, ISM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other RF peripherals like indoor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the continuous scaling of MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) devices over the past few decades, power consumption has increased tremendously. To reduce power dissipation at lower technology nodes, digital logic circuits are designed with modern (FinFET) devices. In this paper, FinFET INDEP (input dependent) technique-based short gate (SG) FinFET Adder circuits are proposed at 10 nm technology node. The performance comparison of INDEP technique-based adder circuits is done with the SG FinFET adder circuits. The analysis of adder circuits is performed first in terms of functional verification (transient characteristics) and finally for different performance parameters such as propagation delay, power dissipation and power delay product (PDP). The proposed FinFET INDEP technique proves as one of the best leakage reduction techniques for FinFET adder circuits at lower technology nodes. To test the reliability of the circuits, Monte Carlo analysis is also performed. The PDP is improved by 16.8% and 13.73% in INDEP SG FinFET half adder(HA) and INDEP SG FinFET full adder(FA) at 10 nm technology, respectively, in comparison with the ones without INDEP technique. The Monte Carlo simulation results with 3σ Gaussian distribution at ±10% process, voltage and temperature variations show the improvement in PDP in case of SG INDEP FinFET FA and SG INDEP FinFET HA circuit in comparison to SG FinFET FA and FinFET HA circuit, respectively. Simulation is performed using HSPICE tool at 10 nm process technology node. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, MEMS-based logic gates such as OR, AND, NOT, NOR, and NAND gates with functionalities similar to the electronic digital devices are designed and simulated. The key feature of these logic devices is that the mechanical cantilever structure of the basic piezo-actuator is adapted to operate like a particular digital logic gate based on the digital inputs. Complete analytical modelling for a single piezo-actuator with a correlation between its out-of-plane tip deflection with applied voltage is obtained. The proposed digital logic devices are further validated through simulation using the MEMS CAD tool CoventorWare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dopingless tunnel field effect transistor (DL-TFET) exhibits a great potential for lowering the sub-threshold current and hence increases the ION/IOFF ratio because of its electrostatically doped source and drain. An analytical model for double gate dopingless tunnel field transistor (DG-DL TFET) is developed, for the first time, by calculating the source and drain work-function-induced doping and using it for solving the 2D Poisson's equation in various regions. Electric potentials, energy band diagrams, electric field, corresponding drain current characteristics, and trans-conductance are obtained through the developed model and are validated by performing extensive device simulation for different gate and drain bias voltages. An excellent match between modeled and simulated results proves the efficacy of the developed model. The ION current obtained in Si-based dopingless TFET is 0.16 µA/µm, IOFF has reduced to 0.296 fA/µm and ION/IOFF obtained from the proposed device structure is 5.4 × 108, and the sub-threshold swing is 50.77 mV/decade. The DG-DL TFET is analyzed for resistive load inverter characteristics and has been further investigated for realizing digital logic functions by controlling the gates of the device independently. The realization of NAND gate requires one "p-type DG-DL TFET", whereas OR gate requires one "n-type DG-DL TFET". The implementations of single bias-controlled logics are useful as they render energy-efficient operations and simultaneously increase the packaging density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With this book, Greenberg indeed fulfils his promise to study the "disruptive and constructive power of narratives" (p. 7), but the warfare concept is strongly overstretched. What Greenberg is actually doing in his book is to reconstruct divergent and conflictive narratives on different phenomena in Egypt and Tunisia before, during, and after the Arab Spring and to embed this in a broader discussion on underlying ideologies and interests. In the first chapter, Greenberg explains his definition of "information warfare 2.0" ignoring most of the literature on media production logic and on affordances of digital and social media. [Extracted from the article]

Amazon's Internationalization in Germany Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon's internationalization began in the late 1990s, with Germany being one of the first target regions (Kenney and Zysman, [36]). With its growth path from a bookseller to an international all-around retailer, Amazon was able to achieve a predominant winner-take-all position in North America as well as some European countries such as Great Britain and Germany (Kenney and Zysman, [36]); Amazon could be considered the "one platform to rule them all" (Birch, [4]). The interviewees explain that these conflict-prone labour relations are the result of Amazon coming from a different work-culture context, and that Amazon has encountered a specific labour market situation in Germany to which it is unaccustomed. Keywords: Big Tech; labour relations; human-technology configuration; Amazon; regulation EN Big Tech labour relations human-technology configuration Amazon regulation 29 43 15 03/10/22 20220301 NES 220301 Introduction Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet/Google, Facebook, Alibaba and Tencent are some of the largest companies in the world, alongside the Saudi-Arabian Oil Company (by market value only, Statista, [49]). [Extracted from the article]

We investigate the circuit performance of the junctionless nanowire transistor. We have demonstrated pass transistor-based logic gates using the junctionless transistor. Pass transistor-based basic logic gates: AND, OR, XOR are designed using only the n-type junctionless nanowire transistor with HfO2 gate dielectric. Simulations of these circuits have been studied and analyzed under a mixed-mode environment. Outcomes of the analysis show that 3D dual gate junctionless nanowire transistor with 20 nm gate length well performed for pass transistor logic. In addition, a junctionless nanowire transistor-made multiplexer has also been studied and found to perform well. A high-k gate dielectric was used for all junctionless transistors as the higher k value improves the device characteristics and circuit performances. Our study also shows that the junctionless nanowire transistor-based pass transistor logics for digital circuit perform well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay reviews the ontological status of digital material in industrial operations and conditions it provides for innovation. It recognises the semiotic quality of digital material and the critical role of von Neumann architecture as to show that digital innovation advances through a three pronged, largely orthogonal process of embedding- a process of interlacing elements of one innovation domain to that of another. Three types of embedding define digital innovation: operational embedding (code-computer), virtual embedding (real-world phenomena-code) and contextual embedding (performing code-social setting). Each constitutes a 'leverage point' for further expanding digital innovation and they interact dynamically while industrial innovation is defined by a static virtual and contextual embedding. The processes that underlie innovation in the two regimes follow differential logics. In industrial regime (1) discover-synthesise and (2) manufacture-distribute activities combine to form the leverage points for innovation. In digital regime 1) discover product or behaviour (ideation); 2) abstract to digital material (virtualise); 3) Implement and replicate digital material (variations in operational/contextual embedding); and 4) Deliver product and/or behaviour (perform digital material) activities form the leverage points for innovation enabling wider, open, and faster innovation with a distinct value logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the growing industry of digital self-tracking technologies designed for the female body, popularly known as femtech. Focusing mainly on reproductive technologies and applications, it situates femtech within the broader historical context of excluding women from research on medicine and clinical trials. Approaching femtech as datafied body projects, we argue that, even though these digital reproductive health technologies enhance user capacity for self-knowledge by quantifying reproduction, they raise apprehensions about issues of reproductive surveillance. These datafied body projects are not only technology-driven, but are also shaped by the neo-liberal ethos in which the state-corporate nexus shifts the onus of health management to participatory individuated forms, deemed as "empowering," while simultaneously harnessing this user-generated data for control and profit. Finally, we argue that merely representing women in all spheres of health and procuring data on the female body is insufficient to address the larger concerns of gender in health. A more close-grained approach that addresses the structural embeddedness of exploitation of the female body for profit and the masculine epistemology around which these technologies are built is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additionally an automatic and integral battery, capable of delivering a minimum of 5 h of active therapy during patient transfer, further assures patient safety and comfort. PET infusion system The MEDRAD® Intego is a fully automated PET infusion system that allows accurate dose-on-demand administration of 18 F-FDG or 18 F-NaF from a multi-dose vial while providing shielding and protection to the operator. Therapy mattress The CuroCell UNO® from Essential Healthcare Solutions is a new generation of intelligent dynamic therapy mattress, which combines leading innovative technology with intuitive smart pump functionality. [Extracted from the article]

This article is inspired by studies on digital trust at the workplace. The article seeks to bridge the gap created by the lack of explanations in academic studies and theorising on why, even though elections can be held in African countries using technology and digital tools, the outcomes continue to be contested, as in the past. Blame is laid on the electoral institution, the people running the institution, and the technology applied during the election process. The study provides background regarding the Kenyan context, and benefits from a wide theorisation and generalisations taken from the literature on trust in the functions of institutions, people, and technology. The article also links these three in the broader framework of the project of digital trust at the workplace. It concludes that the holding of elections using digital technology did not yield the desired results of solidifying trust in the Kenyan electoral process and in the political domain as a whole. The context of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) involves liquid trust and a great deal of frustration, meaning that the decision to make use of technology does not necessarily lead to better results. Liquid trust is a type of trust which is short-lived, ephemeral, access-based, and dematerialised, while solid trust is an enduring and materialised type of trust. Modern liquid trust generates its other: the digital non-trustworthy or ethics-less design of a digital world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, diplomats have increasingly employed humour online. This study sought to understand why diplomats use humour on Twitter and to investigate whether humour can serve as a public diplomacy resource. The study adopted the prism of "the digitalisation of public diplomacy", which asserts that the norms and logics of the digital society have altered diplomats' working routines. Employing advertising humour typologies, the study analysed humorous tweets published by the Russian Embassy to the United Kingdom. Results suggest that by adopting a humorous and abrasive tone, and resonating with populist narratives, the Embassy was able to craft a unique iBrand online. This iBrand also depicted Russia as a confident world leader whose diplomacy is blunt and understandable to "common" people. Humour also enabled the Embassy to summon the attention of social media users, set the media agenda and identify the values that underscore Russia's image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negotiation of competing institutional logics is relevant for organisations active in multi-institutional domains. News organisations are active in the domains of democracy and business, and, through digitisation, they are active in the digital technology domain. This article describes how journalism negotiates competing logics of these domains, i.e. professional, market, managerial, and technology (tech) logics. Analysing n = 744 individual NiemanLab Predictions for Journalism from 2014 to 2019, findings indicate that journalism aggregates and integrates competing logics in a fluid way, keeping synergies across logics and plurality of logics high. The field of journalism is shaped by the competition of four logics: While tech logics induce changes in professional, market, and managerial logics, professional logics remain the dominant moral compass for journalists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the permutation flow shop scheduling problem with earliness and tardiness penalties (E/T) and common due date for jobs. We show that the problem can be sub-divided into three cases: (i) the due date is such that all jobs are necessarily tardy; (ii) the due date is unrestricted; and (iii) the due date is between the two. Based on analytical results we provide partial characterisation of the optimal solution and develop a comprehensive approach for solving the problem over the entire range of due dates. Our approach, which draws upon the existing literature and results for the single machine problem, successfully exploits the properties of the optimal solution. Limited computational results indicate that the performance of the heuristic is reasonable and has the potential to significantly improve performance. This approach has been incorporated as part of the scheduling module of the production planning and scheduling system we developed for a medium-sized bulk drug manufacturer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information increases in a signal by using more value to represent the signal. Compared to binary logic, multivalued logic carries more information about a signal. An image can be represented more faithfully with quaternary logic compared to binary logic. Binary logic consists only two states, whereas quaternary logic consists of four states. But the increase in states in the quaternary logic decreases the noise margin. As a result, noise signal affects a quaternary image information more than a binary image. Proper filters are necessary to image restoration from multivalued logic image processing. Savitzky–Golay (SG) filter is used here to preserve the information due to multivalued logic image processing. Comparative study is performed in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio and mean squared error. This paper shows the application of quaternary logic in combination of SG filter in image enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making the students understand the theoretical concepts of digital logic design concepts is one of the major issues faced by the academics, therefore the teachers have tried different techniques to link the theoretical information to the practical knowledge. Use of software simulations is a technique for learning and practice that can be applied to many different disciplines. Experimentation of different computer hardware components/integrated circuits with the use of the simulators enhances the student learning. The simulators can be rather simplistic or quite complex. This paper reports our evaluation of different simulators available for use in the higher education institutions. We also provide the experience of incorporating some selected tools in teaching introductory courses in computer systems. We justified the effectiveness of incorporating the simulators into the computer system courses by use of student survey and final grade results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine arguments both for strengthening property rights and expanding the public domain for digital information goods. Specifically, we conduct a Toulminian analysis of arguments made at a cross-disciplinary symposium at Duke Law School on information goods and the public domain. We find that there are two “logics” underlying arguments on issues related to information goods: what we describe as digital and analog logics. We also identify five argument categories—profit motive, economic efficiency, innovation, ethics and fundamental rights, and temporality—and two different time frames used for judging impacts—proximal and distal. We conclude with a number of theory-generating propositions and a provocation for our conceptions of capitalism in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stochastic sensitivity analyses rarely measure the extent to which realized simulations cover the search space. Rather, simulation lengths are typically chosen according to expert judgement. In response, this paper recommends a novel application of Good-Turing estimators of missing distributional mass. Using the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index, the empirical performance of such coverage metrics are compared to alternative measures of convergence. The former are advantageous – they provide probabilistic estimates of simulation coverage and permit calculation of strict bounds on estimates of pairwise dominance (for all possible weight vectors, how often country X dominates country Y). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The universal logic gates are the most important logic gates responsible for optimized design of different types of complex digital logic circuits. It is of great interest to implement the function of universal logic gates such as NAND and NOR logic gates using the concepts of electro-optic effect. The smart use of electro-optic effect can provide very effective optical power switching devices. The implementation of universal logic gates operation in the optical domain can improve the performance of the devices and includes the advantages of the optical communication system. The proper configuration of Mach–Zehnder interferometer working on the principle of electro-optic effect can provide the optical responses equivalent to the NAND and NOR logic gates. The proposed devices can be analyzed to check the various performance affecting parameters in order to specify the physical parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of level of abstraction (LoA) is one of the foundations of the Floridi's Philosophy of Information. It also serves for many practical purposes as in information ethics. But the notion of abstraction is not new; it has been given many different meanings in various fields, especially in scientific disciplines and, in particular, in computer science. Our purpose here is to examine the use of abstraction in Floridi's works in conjunction with some of the meanings of abstraction in computer science. The article is divided into five sections. After a general introduction to the Floridi's method of abstraction (MoA) in Section 1, Section 2 revisits Floridi's definition of abstraction and Section 3 gives the different senses of abstraction in computer science. The Section 4 compares them with the Floridi's LoAs and proposes to generalise the Floridi's approach to abstraction using an abstraction of the LoAs, while Section 5 concludes on what we think to be some new arguments in favour of MoA and LoA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concept inventories hold tremendous promise for promoting the rigorous evaluation of teaching methods that might remedy common student misconceptions and promote deep learning. The measurements from concept inventories can be trusted only if the concept inventories are evaluated both by expert feedback and statistical scrutiny (psychometric evaluation). Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory provide two psychometric frameworks for evaluating the quality of assessment tools. We discuss how these theories can be applied to assessment tools generally and then apply them to the Digital Logic Concept Inventory (DLCI). We demonstrate that the DLCI is sufficiently reliable for research purposes when used in its entirety and as a post-course assessment of students’ conceptual understanding of digital logic. The DLCI can also discriminate between students across a wide range of ability levels, providing the most information about weaker students’ ability levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Concept Inventories (CIs) are assessments designed to measure student learning of core concepts. CIs have become well known for their major impact on pedagogical techniques in other sciences, especially physics. Presently, there are no widely used, validated CIs for computer science. However, considerable groundwork has been performed in the form of identifying core concepts, analyzing student misconceptions, and developing CI assessment questions. Although much of the work has been focused on CS1 and a CI has been developed for digital logic, some preliminary work on CIs is underway for other courses. This literature review examines CI work in other STEM disciplines, discusses the preliminary development of CIs in computer science, and outlines related research in computer science education that contributes to CI development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Railway signalling system is a safety-critical system to ensure railway safety and its development cost is huge. It is of great economic value to apply the generic signalling systems in different environments through configuration of different application data. In this paper, a new method to configure the application data completely and accurately is illustrated; in particular, a technique called automatic generation technology is introduced to automatically configure the functional logic of safety-critical systems, i.e. computer-based interlocking (CBI) system and automatic train protection (ATP) system. All of the application data are collected from the workflow among various departments through the enterprise system (ES). Some application data are represented by models employing automatic generation technology, and the functional logic is then obtained through analysis using these models. A configuration platform based on the ES is developed in which both the efficiency and accuracy of the application data configuration are significantly improved. In addition, it is capable of reducing human errors to a maximal extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normative systems have been advocated as an effective tool to regulate interaction in multi-agent systems. The use of deontic operators and the ability to represent defeasible information are known to be two fundamental ingredients to represent and reason about normative systems. In this paper, after introducing a framework that combines standard deontic logic and non-monotonic logic programming, deontic logic programs (DLP), we tackle the fundamental problem of equivalence between normative systems using a deontic extension of David Pearce’s Equilibrium Logic and its monotonic basis, the logic of Here-and-There. We also show how deontic logic programs can be used to represent and reason about normative systems, and establish a strong connection with input-output logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RASP is a recent extension to Answer Set Programming (ASP) that permits declarative specification and reasoning on the consumption and production of resources. ASP can be seen as a particular case of RASP. In this paper, we study the relationship between linear logic and RASP problem specification. We prove that RASP programs can be translated into (a fragment of) linear logic, and vice versa. In doing so, we introduce a linear logic representation of default negation as understood in ASP. We are also able to establish a link between linear logic and here-and-there (HT) logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contains a survey of the main definitions and results obtained to date related to Temporal Equilibrium Logic, a nonmonotonic hybrid approach that combines Equilibrium Logic (the best-known logical characterisation for the stable models semantics of logic programs) with Linear-Time Temporal Logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was proved by Odintsov and Pearce that the logicis a deductive base for paraconsistent answer set semantics (PAS) of logic programs with two kinds of negation. Here we describe the lattice of logics extending, characterise these logics via classes of-models, and prove that none of the proper extensions ofis a deductive base for PAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides a preliminary study of algebraic semantics for modal and superintuitionistic non-monotonic logics. The main question answered is: how can non-monotonic inference be understood algebraically? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonmonotonic causal logic is a knowledge representation language designed for describing domains that involve actions and change. The process of literal completion, similar to program completion familiar from the theory of logic programming, can be used to translate some nonmonotonic causal theories into classical logic. Its applicability is restricted, however, to theories that deal with truth-valued fluents, represented by predicate symbols. In this note we introduce functional completion—a more general process that can be applied to causal theories in which fluents are treated as functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The infinite-valued semantics was introduced in Rondogiannis and Wadge (2005) as a purely logical way for capturing the meaning of well-founded negation in logic programming. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to give a non-technical introduction to the infinite-valued semantics; second, to discuss the applicability of the infinite-valued approach to syntactically richer extensions of logic programming; and third, to present the main open problems whose resolution would further enhance the applicability of the technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their dynamic nature, social commitments have rarely been used for monitoring purposes. Little attention has been paid to the relationship between commitments and the temporal dimension and to the corresponding run-time verification. Building on previous work, we present a declarative axiomatization of time-aware social commitments, extending their basic life cycle with time-related transitions and compensation mechanisms. The formalization is based on a reactive version of the event calculus, able to monitor the commitment's evolution during a system's execution, to check whether the interacting agents are honoring them or not. The resulting monitoring framework can be used in the context of agent-based simulation, either to dynamically evaluate whether a running simulation is compliant with a commitment-based contract or to provide useful information to the interacting agents, helping them to behave in a compliant manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since its physical fabrication in 2008, the memristor has been promising in the fields of nanoelectronics, computer logic and neuromorphic computers. Taking advantage of the circuit properties of the memristor, this paper proposes memristor-based chaotic circuits. For the first time, memristor-based chaotic circuits have been derived from the canonical Chua's circuit. These circuits present opportunities for developing applications under the constraints of scalability and low power. They also provide a memristor-based framework for secure communications with chaos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an historical and conceptual overview on different approaches to logical abstraction. Two main trends concerning abstraction in the history of logic are highlighted, starting from the logical notions of concept and function. This analysis strictly relates to the philosophical discussion on the nature of abstract objects. I develop this issue further with respect to the procedure of abstraction involved by (typed) λ-systems, focusing on the crucial change about meaning and predicability. In particular, the analysis of the nature of logical types in the context of Constructive Type Theory allows elucidation of the role of the previously introduced notions. Finally, the connection to the analysis of abstraction in computer science is drawn, and the methodological contribution provided by the notion of information is considered, showing its conceptual and technical relevance. Future research shall focus on the notion of information in distributed systems, analysing the paradigm of information hiding in dependent type theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reconfigurable hardware architecture for public-key cryptosystems. By changing the connections of coarse grain carry-save adders (CSAs), the datapath provides high performance modular operations that can be used for both RSA and elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). In addition, we introduce reconfigurable flip-flops in order to make an optimal choice of hardware resources. The proposed datapath is implemented with a 0.25-µm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology and on a field programmable gate array (FPGA). We compare the performance of modular exponentiation for RSA and scalar multiplication for ECC based on the prototype implementation. The results show that higher performance is obtained for ECC on the same hardware platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]