In this thesis, we propose to use relevant potential invariants in a simulation-based swarmintelligence-based test generation technique to generate relevant test vectors for design validation at the Register Transfer Level (RTL). Providing useful guidance to the test generator for such techniques is critical. In our approach, we provide guidance by exploiting potential invariants in the design. These potential invariants are obtained using random stimuli such that they are true under these stimuli. Since these potential invariants are only likely to be true, we try to generate stimuli that can falsify them. Any such vectors would help reach some corners of the design. However, the space of potential invariants can be extremely large. To reduce execution time, we also implement a two-layer filter to remove the irrelevant potential invariants that may not contribute in reaching difficult states. With the filter, the vectors generated thus help to reduce the overall test length while still reach the same coverage as considering all unfiltered potential invariants. Experimental results show that with only the filtered potential invariants, we were able to reach equal or better branch coverage than that reported by BEACON in the ITC99 benchmarks, with considerable reduction in vector lengths, at reduced execution time. / Master of Science / Over the recent years, size and complexity of hardware designs are increasing at an enormous rate. Due to this, verification of these designs is of utmost importance and demands much more resources and time than designing of these hardware. To project the information of the designs, developers use Hardware Descriptive Languages (HDL), that includes the important decision points of the system, also called branches of the circuit. There are several methodologies proposed to check how many branches of the design can be traversed by set of inputs. This practice is important to confirm correct functionality of the design as we can catch all the faults in the design at these decision points. Some of these methodologies include checking with random inputs, exhaustively checking for every possible input, investing many hours of labor to verify with appropriate inputs, or simply automating the process of generating inputs. In this thesis, we focus on one such automated process called BEACON or Branch-oriented Evolutionary Ant Colony OptimizatioN. We propose a modification to improve this method by using standard properties of the design. These properties, also known as invariants, help to cover those branches that require extra effort in terms of both inputs and time, and are thus, hard to cover. When we add these significant invariants to the design, modified BEACON is able to cover almost all accessible branches in the system with significantly less amount of time and lesser number of vectors than original BEACON itself, which helps save a lot of resources.

Yes / In the study of microbial keratitis, in vivo animal models often require a large number of animals, and in vitro monolayer cell culture does not maintain the three-dimensional structure of the tissues or cell-to-cell communication of in vivo models. Here, we propose reproducible ex vivo models of single- and dual-infection keratitis as an alternative to in vivo and in vitro models. / Wellcome Trust

Due to variability in aircraft overflight type and associated animal responses, there is a lack of consensus on the effects of overflights on wildlife populations. My objectives were to 1) evaluate the potential impacts that reduced-altitude tactical speed military aircraft might generate on nesting colonial waterbirds, and to place any impacts in the context of other human events, 2) a) identify key least tern (Sternula antillarum) demographic drivers, b) evaluate the accuracy of assigning nest fates without using remote cameras, and c) assess the effects of camera-monitoring on nest survival, and 3) evaluate the agreement between two techniques used to estimate peak least tern breeding abundance. I conducted my study at Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina from May-August 2010-2012. I surveyed colonies once every 3-5 days and deployed audio recorders and time-lapse cameras at individual nests in 9 colonies. Birds did not incubate less or engage in alert behaviors during overflights compared with control periods. Least terns reduced incubation by a mean of 12% when pedestrians were observed near nests (S = -2.2, p = 0.04). Demographic effects from overflights or recreation are unlikely given the patterns of use in this study. Least tern demographic rates were driven by raccoon depredation. Cameras reduced daily nest survival (SE) from 0.85 (0.06) to 0.79 (0.08). However, cameras also decreased the frequency of unknown or misclassified nest fates by > 30%. Incubating adult counts were effective in assessing peak nest abundance at colonies where topography did not impede scanning from the perimeter. / Master of Science

Opposition-based learning (OBL) was recently proposed to extend di erent machine learning algorithms. The main idea of OBL is to consider opposite estimates, actions or states as an attempt to increase the coverage of the solution space and to reduce exploration time. OBL has already been applied to reinforcement learning, neural networks and genetic algorithms. This thesis explores the application of OBL to ant algorithms. Ant algorithms are based on the trail laying and following behaviour of ants. They have been successfully applied to many complex optimization problems. However, like any other technique, they can benefit from performance improvements. Thus, this work was motivated by the idea of developing more complex pheromone and path selection behaviour for the algorithm using the concept of opposition. This work proposes opposition-based extensions to the construction and update phases of the ant algorithm. The modifications that focus on the solution construction include three direct and two indirect methods. The three direct methods work by pairing the ants and synchronizing their path selection. The two other approaches modify the decisions of the ants by using opposite-pheromone content. The extension of the update phase lead to an approach that performs additional pheromone updates using opposite decisions. Experimental validation was done using two versions of the ant algorithm: the Ant System and the Ant Colony System. The di erent OBL extensions were applied to the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) and to the Grid World Problem (GWP). Results demonstrate that the concept of opposition is not easily applied to the ant algorithm. One pheromone-based method showed performance improvements that were statistically significant for the TSP. The quality of the solutions increased and more optimal solutions were found. The extension to the update phase showed some improvements for the TSP and led to accuracy improvements and a significant speed-up for the GWP. The other extensions showed no clear improvement. The proposed methods for applying opposition to the ant algorithm have potential, but more investigations are required before ant colony optimization can fully benefit from opposition. Most importantly, fundamental theoretical work with graphs, specifically, clearly defining opposite paths or opposite path components, is needed. Overall, the results indicate that OBL ideas can be beneficial for ant algorithms.

Opposition-based learning (OBL) was recently proposed to extend di erent machine learning algorithms. The main idea of OBL is to consider opposite estimates, actions or states as an attempt to increase the coverage of the solution space and to reduce exploration time. OBL has already been applied to reinforcement learning, neural networks and genetic algorithms. This thesis explores the application of OBL to ant algorithms. Ant algorithms are based on the trail laying and following behaviour of ants. They have been successfully applied to many complex optimization problems. However, like any other technique, they can benefit from performance improvements. Thus, this work was motivated by the idea of developing more complex pheromone and path selection behaviour for the algorithm using the concept of opposition. This work proposes opposition-based extensions to the construction and update phases of the ant algorithm. The modifications that focus on the solution construction include three direct and two indirect methods. The three direct methods work by pairing the ants and synchronizing their path selection. The two other approaches modify the decisions of the ants by using opposite-pheromone content. The extension of the update phase lead to an approach that performs additional pheromone updates using opposite decisions. Experimental validation was done using two versions of the ant algorithm: the Ant System and the Ant Colony System. The di erent OBL extensions were applied to the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) and to the Grid World Problem (GWP). Results demonstrate that the concept of opposition is not easily applied to the ant algorithm. One pheromone-based method showed performance improvements that were statistically significant for the TSP. The quality of the solutions increased and more optimal solutions were found. The extension to the update phase showed some improvements for the TSP and led to accuracy improvements and a significant speed-up for the GWP. The other extensions showed no clear improvement. The proposed methods for applying opposition to the ant algorithm have potential, but more investigations are required before ant colony optimization can fully benefit from opposition. Most importantly, fundamental theoretical work with graphs, specifically, clearly defining opposite paths or opposite path components, is needed. Overall, the results indicate that OBL ideas can be beneficial for ant algorithms.

This dissertation investigates the regulation of cross-border mobility and the formation of Natal, and nascent South African, immigration policy in the late colonial period. Natal's immigration technologies were at the very vanguard of a new global migration regime based on documentation and rigorous policing of boundaries. Essentially a thorough examination of the workings of the pre-Union Immigration Restriction Department (1897-c.191 0), I offer a historical analysis of state capacity to regulate and 'embrace' immigration along Natal's formative borders and points of entry, focusing on the port-town of Durban, whose colonial urban proftle forms a subsidiary focus of the project. This involves going beyond a mere study of policy and legislation - instead I have made a close and historically attentive study of the actual mechanisms of regulation and inclusion/exclusion and where these routinely failed, were subverted or implicated in economies of fraud and evasion. Through this, I build upon and deepen legal studies of immigration restriction by considering the practical and, to some degree, lived experience of restriction. I lay the groundwork by contextualizing the specific contours of 'undesirability' in turn of the century Durban. I point to a number of moral panics and a sense of crisis that engulfed officials in the town, referring in turn to merchant and 'passenger' Indians, wartime refugees, maritime labourers and poor whites, amongst others, moving to and through a regional and Indian-Ocean economy. I then turn to the 'technologies of exclusion' in two streams: 'paper-based' technologies of pass regimes, domicile certificates and education/language tests, and secondly more explicit forms of confinement, surveillance and patrol through police-guard systems and detention policies. An important aspect of the question that I consider turns on the growing capacity of the state to arrest and intern during and following the South African war. By the end of the war in 1902, progress would in practice be underwritten by a new climate of professional, technical and managerial agency that also percolated through state bureaucracies. 'Technological' and bureaucratic proficiency provided a legitimate and unproblematic guise for highly politicized state intervention and forms the origins of the 20'h century South African immigration administration. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

Typescript (Photocopy) / Bibliography: leaves 170-198. / xx, 198 leaves, 1 leaf of col. plates : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Medicine, 1991

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/01/12). Includes bibliographical references.

Fibroblasts play a sentinel role in asthmatic disease. They are the main constituents of connective tissue and are increased in number in the asthmatic lung. They are also capable of secreting a diverse repertoire of cytokines and are able to be activated by pro-inflammatory cytokines and cell-cell contact. Previously we have reported that normal human lung fibroblasts (NHLF) can be activated by monocytes (U937) through cell-cell contact to produce GM-CSF. Here we show that GM-CSF production from NHLF activated by monocyte contact is inhibited by prednisone, a synthetic glucocorticoid used in the treatment of asthma. GM-CSF is an acidic glycoprotein that potentiates development of cells in the granulocyte and macrophage lineage and is secreted at sites of peripheral inflammation. The receptor for GM-CSF was found on NHLF by flow cytometry and was able to be up-regulated by interleukin (IL)-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and recombinant human (rh) GM-CSF. To test autocrine effects of GM-CSF on fibroblasts, rh GM-CSF was used in proliferation studies and was found to decrease fibroblast proliferation. Prednisone was used to block NF-kappaB activation and GM-CSF gene expression as well. These data indicate mechanism of action and treatment for cell-cell contact mediated inflammation of infiltrating monocytes with fibroblasts as seen in asthma and other diseases like graft versus host disease.

Suite à une lésion, la réparation d’un tissu à l’identique est l’objectif clinique recherché. Ainsi un hémostatique, au-delà de sa capacité à arrêter un saignement, se doit au minimum de ne pas être délétère pour la réparation tissulaire. Or, malgré une efficacité hémostatique démontrée Tachosil® et Surgicel®, couramment utilisés en chirurgie, peuvent générer en raison de leur persistance in situ associée à une résorption incomplète, des évènements indésirables graves (nécrose, hypersensibilité, allergie, sténose, complication thromboembolique, sepsis…). Dans ce contexte, nous avons étudié les effets d’un nouvel hémostatique non implantable, HÉMO-IONIC®, sur toutes les étapes de la réparation tissulaire : de l’hémostase à la phase de maturation. HÉMO-IONIC®, Tachosil® et Surgicel® ont été évalués in vitro sur la fonctionnalité des Endothelial Colony Forming Cells (ECFCs) ; et in vivo dans deux modèles murins, un modèle d’hémostase et un de réparation tissulaire. Grâce à ces travaux, constituant une approche originale de l’évaluation des hémostatiques, nous avons démontré que seul HÉMO-IONIC®, en plus d’être un hémostatique efficace, maintient l’ensemble des propriétés fonctionnelles des cellules endothéliales et agit, à plus long terme, positivement sur l’ensemble des étapes de la réparation tissulaire. Ces données ouvrent des perspectives particulièrement intéressantes, notamment dans la prise en charge des brûlures nécessitant la restitution d’un tissu cutané de qualité (souple et élastique). Ainsi, l’association d’HÉMO-IONIC® à l’expertise du Service de Santé des Armées (SSA) dans l’utilisation des cellules stromales mésenchymateuses comme Médicament de Thérapie Innovante (MTI) pourrait représenter, dans la prise en charge des brûlures, une avancée thérapeutique en améliorant les résultats fonctionnels et esthétiques. / After an injury, the clinical objective is to faithfully repair tissues. Thus, a hemostatic agent, beyond its ability to stop bleeding, must at least not be deleterious for tissue repair. However, despite proven hemostatic efficacy, Tachosil® and Surgicel®, which are commonly used in surgery, can lead to serious adverse events (necrosis, hypersensitivity, allergy, stenosis, thromboembolic complication, sepsis…) due to their in situ persistence associated with their incomplete resorption. In this context, we studied the effects of a new non-implantable hemostatic agent, HÉMO-IONIC®, on all stages of tissue repair : from hemostasis to maturation phase. The effects of HÉMO-IONIC®, Tachosil® and Surgicel® were assessed in vitro on Endothelial Colony Forming Cell function (ECFCs) and in vivo in two mouse models of hemostasis and tissue repair. Using an original approach to the assessment of hemostatic agents, we showed that only HÉMO-IONIC®, in addition to being effective, maintained all the functional properties of endothelial cells and acted positively on all stages of tissue repair in the longer term. These data open up very interesting perspectives, in particular in the management of burns where restoring a quality cutaneous tissue (supple and elastic) is required. Thus, in burn management, combining HÉMO-IONIC® with the French Defence Health service expertise in the use of mesenchymatous stromal cells as an advanced therapy medicinal product could be a therapeutic advance by improving the functional and esthetic outcomes.