Automated Test Case Generation from Domain-Specific High-Level Requirement Models

One of the most researched aspects of the software engineering process is the verification and validation of software systems using various techniques. The need to ensure that the developed software system addresses its intended specifications has led to several approaches that link the requirements gathering and software testing phases of development. This thesis presents a framework that bridges the gap between requirement specification and testing of software using domain-specific modelling concepts. The proposed modelling notation, High-Level Requirement Modelling Language (HRML), addresses the drawbacks of Natural Language (NL) for high-level requirement specifications including ambiguity and incompleteness. Real-time checks are implemented to ensure valid HRML specification models are utilised for the automated test cases generation. The type of HRML requirement specified in the model determines the approach to be employed to generate corresponding test cases. Boundary Value Analysis and Equivalence Partitioning is applied to specifications with predefined range values to generate valid and invalid inputs for robustness test cases. Structural coverage test cases are also generated to satisfy the Modified Condition/Decision Coverage (MC/DC) criteria for HRML specifications with logic expressions. In scenarios where the conditional statements are combined with logic expressions, the MC/DC approach is extended to generate the corresponding tests cases. Evaluation of the proposed framework by industry experts in a case study, its scalability, comparative study and the assessment of its learnability by non-experts are reported. The results indicate a reduction in the test case generation process in the case study, however non-experts spent more time in modelling the requirement in HRML while the time taken for test case generation is also reduced

Teratology in zebrafish embryos

Teratology, study of abnormal prenatal development, as a descriptive science has starts with written language. The modern experimental teratology era started in the early quarter of 20th centaury. Since the thalidomide catastrophe in early 1960s regulatory agencies launched requirements for new drugs to be thoroughly tested on animals prior to human use. One of the major concerns in the teratological studies is the mechanism of teratogenesis; it is very difficult to know the exact mechanism of teratogenesis. However there are many proposed mechanism of teratogenesis by Wilson 1973. Teratogens induce one or multiple unique pathogenic responses in the developing embryos. Susceptibility f teratogenesis varies with age and therefore can be divided into three developmental periods: early embryonic development, organogenesis and early differentiation, and late embryonic development. Animal based studies provide the initial guideline if a chemical or drug may present a teratogenic risk. A variety of laboratory animals from different classes of animals are being used for the teratological studies. Rat, rabbit, mice, hamster, and non human primates are the most prevalent laboratory animal species of the mammal class. Xenopus laevis of the amphibian class has been used and suggested as a model for mammalian teratogenicity. From the bird class chicken, duck and quail have been used most often in laboratory studies. Zebrafish, Japanese medaka and fathead minnow are the most commonly used laboratory fish species, promoted by OECD for future testing of chemical toxicity. Teratogens can be classified as recreational and social teratogens, pharmaceutical teratogens, industrial and environmental teratogens, agricultural teratogens, and metabolic and infectious diseases. In the present study model substances were selected from the different classes of teratogens. The selected substances were; retinoic acid, lithium, ethanol, 6-aminonicotinamide, ochratoxin A and arsenic

Quantifying the functional and evolutionary relationships among sequences, transcription factor binding and gene expression

A central challenge in regulatory genomics today is to understand the precise relationship between regulatory sequences, transcription factor (TF) binding and gene expression. Many studies have discussed how TFs recognize their DNA binding sites. However, it is not well understood how the various factors that influence TF-DNA binding alter the cascade of gene expression. Moreover, mutations in regulatory sequences are a key driving force of evolution and diseases. A number of studies have examined the sequence motif turnover and divergence in TF binding across species. However, there is currently a lack of clarity on what these changes mean to enhancer function. In this thesis, we used computational and statistical methods to quantitatively and systematically examine the relationships among regulatory sequences, TF binding, and gene expression, from both functional and evolutionary perspectives. At the functional level, we extended thermodynamics-based statistical models of the genetic sequence-to-function relationship to accurately predict gene expression. We incorporated chromatin accessibility and structural biological data into the models, described in Chapter 2 and 3. In doing so, we aimed to better identify transcription factor binding sites likely to influence gene expression, and thus, enhance the models’ capacity to predict gene expression. We demonstrated these improvements to gene expression modeling in Drosophila melanogaster by integrating DNaseI hypersensitivity assays and DNA shape. At the evolutionary level, we focused on regulatory variations between two distant Drosophila species to access inherent properties of enhancers, as described in Chapter 4. We used statistical and computational approaches to quantitatively examine the extent to which sequence and accessibility variations can predict TF occupancy divergence and enhancer activity change. We also found combinatorial TF binding can buffer variations at individual TF level to avoid drastic gene expression changes

Proceedings of the NASA Conference on Space Telerobotics, volume 3

The theme of the Conference was man-machine collaboration in space. The Conference provided a forum for researchers and engineers to exchange ideas on the research and development required for application of telerobotics technology to the space systems planned for the 1990s and beyond. The Conference: (1) provided a view of current NASA telerobotic research and development; (2) stimulated technical exchange on man-machine systems, manipulator control, machine sensing, machine intelligence, concurrent computation, and system architectures; and (3) identified important unsolved problems of current interest which can be dealt with by future research

Large space structures and systems in the space station era: A bibliography with indexes

Bibliographies and abstracts are listed for 1219 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between July 1, 1990 and December 31, 1990. The purpose is to provide helpful information to the researcher, manager, and designer in technology development and mission design according to system, interactive analysis and design, structural and thermal analysis and design, structural concepts and control systems, electronics, advanced materials, assembly concepts, propulsion, and solar power satellite systems

Optimierung der kardialen Programmierung von Stammzellen und der Reifung in vitro generierter Kardiomyozyten

Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen sind mit 17,9 Mio. Sterbefällen pro Jahr die Haupttodesursache in der westlichen Welt. Stammzellderivierte Kardiomyozyten bieten hier neue Möglichkeiten zur Verbesserung der kardialen Regeneration. Die vorliegende Habilitationsschrift beschäftigt sich mit der Optimierung der kardialen Stammzellprogrammierung mit dem Ziel der Herstellung reifer kardialer Zelltypen für Zellersatztherapie und in vitro Anwendungen

Proceedings of the NASA Conference on Space Telerobotics, volume 5

Papers presented at the NASA Conference on Space Telerobotics are compiled. The theme of the conference was man-machine collaboration in space. The conference provided a forum for researchers and engineers to exchange ideas on the research and development required for the application of telerobotics technology to the space systems planned for the 1990's and beyond. Volume 5 contains papers related to the following subject areas: robot arm modeling and control, special topics in telerobotics, telerobotic space operations, manipulator control, flight experiment concepts, manipulator coordination, issues in artificial intelligence systems, and research activities at the Johnson Space Center

Model Based Teleoperation to Eliminate Feedback Delay NSF Grant BCS89-01352 Second Report

We are conducting research in the area of teleoperation with feedback delay. Delay occurs with earth-based teleoperation in space and with surface-based teleoperation with untethered submersibles when acoustic communication links are involved. The delay in obtaining position and force feedback from remote slave arms makes teleoperation extremely difficult leading to very low productivity. We have combined computer graphics with manipulator programming to provide a solution to the problem. A teleoperator master arm is interfaced to a graphics based simulator of the remote environment. The system is then coupled with a robot manipulator at the remote, delayed site. The operator\u27s actions are monitored to provide both kinesthetic and visual feedback and to generate symbolic motion commands to the remote slave. The slave robot then executes these symbolic commands delayed in time. While much of a task proceeds error free, when an error does occur, the slave system transmits data back to the master environment which is then reset to the error state from which the operator continues the task

Aerospace medicine and biology: A cumulative index to a continuing bibliography (supplement 345)

This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in Supplements 333 through 344 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. Seven indexes are included -- subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number

Proceedings of the NASA Conference on Space Telerobotics, volume 1

The theme of the Conference was man-machine collaboration in space. Topics addressed include: redundant manipulators; man-machine systems; telerobot architecture; remote sensing and planning; navigation; neural networks; fundamental AI research; and reasoning under uncertainty