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Understanding the linkage between temporal climate variability and groundwater nitrate concentration variability in monitoring well records is key to interpreting the impacts of changes in land-use practices and assessing groundwater quality trends. This study explores the coupling of climate variability and groundwater nitrate concentration variability in the Abbotsford-Sumas aquifer. Over the period of 1992-2009, the average groundwater nitrate concentration in the aquifer remained fairly steady at approximately 15 mg/L nitrate-N. Normalized nitrate data for 19 individual monitoring wells were assessed for a range of intrinsic factors including precipitation, depth to water table, depth below water table, and apparent groundwater age. At a broad scale, there is a negative correlation between nitrate concentration and apparent groundwater age. Each dedicated monitoring well shows unique, non-uniform cyclical variability in nitrate concentrations that appears to correspond with seasonal (1 year) cycles in precipitation as well as longer-period cycles (~5 years), possibly due to ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) or the Pacific North American (PNA) pattern. These precipitation cycles appear to influence nitrate concentrations by approximately ±30 % of the critical concentration (10 mg/L NO-N). Not all wells show direct correlation due to many complex local-scale factors that influence nitrate leaching including spatially and temporally variable nutrient management practices and soil/crop nitrogen dynamics (anthropogenic and agronomic factors). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive synthesis is the task of automatically deriving a correct implementation from a specification. It is a promising technique for the development of verified programs and hardware. Despite recent advances in terms of algorithms and tools, however, reactive synthesis is still not practical when the specified systems reach a certain bound in size and complexity. In this paper, we present a sound and complete modular synthesis algorithm that automatically decomposes the specification into smaller subspecifications. For them, independent synthesis tasks are performed, significantly reducing the complexity of the individual tasks. Our decomposition algorithm guarantees that the subspecifications are independent in the sense that completely separate synthesis tasks can be performed for them. Moreover, the composition of the resulting implementations is guaranteed to satisfy the original specification. Our algorithm is a preprocessing technique that can be applied to a wide range of synthesis tools. We evaluate our approach with state-of-the-art synthesis tools on established benchmarks: the runtime decreases significantly when synthesizing implementations modularly., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Synthesis automatically constructs an implementation that satisfies a given logical specification. In this paper, we study the live synthesis problem, where the synthesized implementation replaces an already running system. In addition to satisfying its own specification, the synthesized implementation must guarantee a sound transition from the previous implementation. This version of the synthesis problem is highly relevant in "always-on" applications, where updates happen while the system is running. To specify the correct handover between the old and new implementation, we introduce an extension of linear-time temporal logic (LTL) called LiveLTL . A LiveLTL specification defines separate requirements on the two implementations and ensures that the new implementation satisfies, in addition to its own requirements, any obligations left unfinished by the old implementation. For specifications in LiveLTL, we show that the live synthesis problem can be solved within the same complexity bound as standard reactive synthesis, i.e., in 2EXPTIME. Our experiments show the necessity of live synthesis for LiveLTL specifications created from benchmarks of SYNTCOMP and robot control., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Model checkers provide algorithms for proving that a mathematical model of a system satisfies a given specification. In case of a violation, a counterexample that shows the erroneous behavior is returned. Understanding these counterexamples is challenging, especially for hyperproperty specifications, i.e., specifications that relate multiple executions of a system to each other. We aim to facilitate the visual analysis of such counterexamples through our HyperVis tool, which provides interactive visualizations of the given model, specification, and counterexample. Within an iterative and interdisciplinary design process, we developed visualization solutions that can effectively communicate the core aspects of the model checking result. Specifically, we introduce graphical representations of binary values for improving pattern recognition, color encoding for better indicating related aspects, visually enhanced textual descriptions, as well as extensive cross-view highlighting mechanisms. Further, through an underlying causal analysis of the counterexample, we are also able to identify values that contributed to the violation and use this knowledge for both improved encoding and highlighting. Finally, the analyst can modify both the specification of the hyperproperty and the system directly within HyperVis and initiate the model checking of the new version. In combination, these features notably support the analyst in understanding the error leading to the counterexample as well as iterating the provided system and specification. We ran multiple case studies with HyperVis and tested it with domain experts in qualitative feedback sessions. The participants' positive feedback confirms the considerable improvement over the manual, text-based status quo and the value of the tool for explaining hyperproperties.

In contrast to the breakthroughs in reactive synthesis of monolithic systems, distributed synthesis is not yet practical. Compositional approaches can be a key technique for scalable algorithms. Here, the challenge is to decompose a specification of the global system into local requirements on the individual processes. In this paper, we present and extend a sound and complete compositional synthesis algorithm that constructs for each process, in addition to the strategy, a certificate that captures the necessary interface between the processes. The certificates define an assume-guarantee contract that allows for formulating individual process requirements. By bounding the size of the certificates, we then bias the synthesis procedure towards solutions that are desirable in the sense that they have a small interface. We have implemented our approach and evaluated it on scalable benchmarks: It is much faster than standard methods for distributed synthesis as long as reasonably small certificates exist. Otherwise, the overhead of synthesizing additional certificates is small., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

We study the reactive synthesis problem for hyperproperties given as formulas of the temporal logic HyperLTL. Hyperproperties generalize trace properties, i.e., sets of traces, to sets of sets of traces. Typical examples are information-flow policies like noninterference, which stipulate that no sensitive data must leak into the public domain. Such properties cannot be expressed in standard linear or branching-time temporal logics like LTL, CTL, or CTL ∗ . Furthermore, HyperLTL subsumes many classical extensions of the LTL realizability problem, including realizability under incomplete information, distributed synthesis, and fault-tolerant synthesis. We show that, while the synthesis problem is undecidable for full HyperLTL, it remains decidable for the ∃ ∗ , ∃ ∗ ∀ 1 , and the linear ∀ ∗ fragments. Beyond these fragments, the synthesis problem immediately becomes undecidable. For universal HyperLTL, we present a semi-decision procedure that constructs implementations and counterexamples up to a given bound. We report encouraging experimental results obtained with a prototype implementation on example specifications with hyperproperties like symmetric responses, secrecy, and information flow., (© The Author(s) 2019.)

Hyperproperties, such as non-interference and observational determinism, relate multiple system executions to each other. They are not expressible in standard temporal logics, like LTL, CTL, and CTL*, and thus cannot be monitored with standard runtime verification techniques. HyperLTL extends linear-time temporal logic (LTL) with explicit quantification over traces in order to express hyperproperties. We investigate the runtime verification problem of HyperLTL formulas for three different input models: (1) The parallel model, where a fixed number of system executions is processed in parallel. (2) The unbounded sequential model, where system executions are processed sequentially, one execution at a time. In this model, the number of incoming executions is a-priori unbounded and may in fact grow forever. (3) The bounded sequential model where the traces are processed sequentially and the number of incoming executions is bounded . We show that the existence of a bound in the parallel and bounded sequential models leads to a different notion of monitorability than in the unbounded sequential model. We show that deciding the monitoriability problem for alternation-free HyperLTL is PS P A C E -complete while the problem is undecidable in general. For every input model, we provide monitoring algorithms along with run-time and storage optimizations. By recognizing properties of specifications such as reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity, we reduce the number of comparisons between traces. For the sequential models, we present a technique that minimizes the number of traces that need to be stored. We evaluate our optimizations, showing that this leads to a more scalable monitoring and, in particular, a significantly lower memory consumption., (© The Author(s) 2019.)

Practicing dental professionals are advised to work with equipment designed to address the need for productivity and stress reduction. Selection of dental equipment for use in an ergonomic, four-handed dentistry practice is integral to the success of the concept. In order for the dental assistant and dentist to work effectively as a team, they have to work in a safe, ergonomically sound working environment. This article examines various designs of dental equipment, the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as identifies the criteria for equipment selection.

The efficient exchange of instruments between the operator and the dental assistant is fundamental to the facilitation of an efficient and stress-free dental practice. This requires a commitment on the part of the members of the operating team to specific work practices before and during a dental procedure. The objectives of this article include the description of team member responsibilities during an instrument transfer and the identification of the benefits of a proper instrument transfer technique. Objectives also include specific instrument grasps and descriptions of transfer methods that require practice on the part of the operating team in order to attain proficiency.

A great deal of new technology has been integrated into the modern dental office during the last several decades. However, no product can increase productivity and reduce stress and strain on the dental team as much as using the singular concept of four-handed dentistry. The research of the 1950s is undaunted in its impact on productivity. Combined with the practice of ergonomics in the workplace, this concept must be revisited by the dental profession. The young dentists of the 21st Century have had minimal exposure to true four-handed dentistry. This article, the first in a series, re-introduces the basic principles of a research-oriented concept.