Formal methods enable computer architecture and software design to be mathematically proved correct before they are implemented. The complexity and time-consuming nature of such proofs have limited the applications of formal methods in the main to defence and safety-critical applications. The mural project (a joint Alvey-funded project between "M"anchester "U"niversity and "R"utherford "A"ppleton "L"aboratories) has developed a software support system to help the user of formal methods. mural has created a user-friendly software environment (with extensive use of windows) that makes best use of human talents to produce computer systems that are proved to be correctly designed. Professor Cliff Jones is internationally known as the developer of the VDM system of formal notation (Vienna Development Method). This book describes the requirements, concepts, and realisation of the mural system. The authors present systematically and completely the results of this substantial research project, from the basic theoretical level to its effective implementation. The book will be of equal interest to academics working on formal methods at research level (and perhaps to graduate research students), and to practitioners and software engineers who are using - or who will have to use for defence contracts, etc. - formal methods.

The Scientific Forum on the Gulf of Mexico: The Islands in the Stream Concept took place in January 2008 in Sarasota, Florida. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together scientists and managers from around the Gulf of Mexico to discuss a range of topics on our knowledge of the Gulf of Mexico, from its geology to larger-scale connectivity to the Caribbean region, and their applications to the concept of a more integrated approach to area-based management. The forum included six panels of invited experts who spoke on the oceanographic and biological features in the Gulf of Mexico, including connections with Mexico and the Mesoamerican barrier reef system, and the legal and regulatory structure currently in place. The charge to the group was to share information, identify gaps in our knowledge, identify additional potential areas for protection, and discuss available science about connectivity and the potential value of establishing a marine protected area network in the Gulf of Mexico.