Validation of a Short and Generic Qualitative Job Insecurity Scale (QUAL-JIS)

The Qualitative Job Insecurity Scale (QUAL-JIS) has been used in job insecurity (JI) research for the past 9 years, without formal validation. The goal of the current study was to test the scale’s psychometric properties. We checked the scale’s reliability, as well as its validity, investigating evidence based on the scale’s content, internal structure, and relations to other variables (convergent and discriminant, predictive and concurrent, as well as incremental predictive evidence). We additionally evaluated its cross-country and longitudinal invariance over three measurement times (6 months apart) in two countries (Romania and Belgium; NRO = 388, NBE = 1,992). We found evidence for the scale’s reliability and validity, QUAL-JIS showing partial scalar invariance across time and between the two countries. Interestingly, qualitative JI measured with QUAL-JIS explained additional variance in the employees’ need for recovery above and beyond another popular qualitative JI scale.

Towards a Formal Validation of a Hybrid Multi-Agent Routing Protocol for Ad hoc network

In our previous papers, a new Ant Routing Protocol for Ad-hoc Networks inspired from ant colony optimization was presented. We introduced a new approach which decreases both of nodes energy consumption and routing overhead within the network. The validation of our routing protocol was based on series of simulation. The results show that our new algorithm provides a significant improvement compared to other protocols. After the algorithm is defined and published, we have found important to validate formally each one of its components in order to avoid any conflict, lack or misbehaving situations. This process requires in a first step a formal specification. This is our main concern in this paper where we propose in a first part a formal specification using inference systems based on logical rules. A formal validation using these inference systems is proposed in a second step in order to prove the correctness, the soundness, the completeness and the optimality of the proposition.

Validation of the Crystallography Open Database using the Crystallographic Information Framework

Data curation practices of the Crystallography Open Database (COD) are described with additional focus being placed on the formal validation using the Crystallographic Information Framework (CIF). The cif_validate program, capable of validating CIF files against both the DDL1 and the DDLm dictionaries, is presented and used to process the entirety of the COD. Validation results collected from over 450 000 CIF files are demonstrated to be a useful resource in the data maintenance process as well as the development of the underlying ontologies. A set of programs intended to aid in the dictionary migration from DDL1 to DDLm is also presented.

Balancing Automation and Control for Formal Verification of Microprocessors

Formal methods are becoming an indispensable part of the design process in software and hardware industry. It takes robust tools and proofs to make formal validation of large scale projects reliable. In this paper, we will describe the current status of formal verification at Centaur Technology. We will explain our challenges and our methodology—how various proofs and verification artifacts are interconnected and how we keep them consistent over the duration of a project. We also describe our main engine—a powerful symbolic simulator with rewriting capabilities that is integrated in a theorem prover and proven correct.

Validation of Non-Formal Learning in Russia: New Challenges

This paper is intended to cover some major issues in the sphere of non-formal education in Russia and its validation. The ratio of “formal” and “non-formal learning” is the main aspect of solving the problems of the advanced development of public education systems. It is illuminated that the official education systems are slowly adjusting to socio-economic development, their own conservatism as well as the inertia of societies contributes to this fact. Modern society has already had the opportunity to make sure that non-formal education is stronger, as the formal education system is not able to reverse the result of non-formal human socialization. The aim of this paper is to present the relevance of this topic for Russia, as the creation of efficient model of non-formal validation will meet the needs of people of different ages, especially adults, to implement the so-called lifelong learning in life. The paper reviews international leading literature in this subject focusing on its practical application and including the results of Russian participation in international VALERU project.