AI-driven web API testing

Testing of web APIs is nowadays more critical than ever before, as they are the current standard for software integration. A bug in an organization’s web API could have a huge impact both in ternally (services relying on that API) and externally (third-party applications and end users). Most existing tools and testing ap proaches require writing tests or instrumenting the system under test (SUT). The main aim of this dissertation is to take web API testing to an unprecedented level of automation and thoroughness. To this end, we plan to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques for the autonomous detection of software failures. Specifically, the idea is to develop intelligent programs (we call them “bots”) ca pable of generating hundreds, thousands or even millions of test inputs and to evaluate whether the test outputs are correct based on: 1) patterns learned from previous executions of the SUT; and 2) knowledge gained from analyzing thousands of similar programs. Evaluation results of our initial prototype are promising, with bugs being automatically detected in some real-world APIs.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BELI (TIN2015-70560-R)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades RTI2018-101204-B-C21 (HORATIO)Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte FPU17/0407

Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus

The oldest Oldowan tool sites, ca. 2.6 million years ago (Ma), have previously been confined to Ethiopia’s Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.032-2.581 Ma, and expand this distribution by over 1300 km. Furthermore, we found two hippopotamid butchery sites associated with mosaic vegetation and a C4 grazer-dominated fauna. Tool flaking proficiency was comparable to younger Oldowan assemblages, but pounding activities were more common. Tool use-wear and bone damage indicate plant and animal tissue processing. Paranthropus sp. teeth, the first from southwestern Kenya, possessed carbon isotopic values indicative of a diet rich in C4 foods. We argue that the earliest Oldowan was more widespread than previously known, used to process diverse foods including megafauna, and associated with Paranthropus from its onset

Extraction, properties and applications of bioactive compounds obtained from microalgae,

With the increase in global population, getting new sources of food is essential. One of the solutions can be found in the oceans due to algae. Microalgae are aquatic photosynthetic organisms largely used due to their variety of bioactive compounds. The consumption of microalgae has been carried out for centuries and is recommended by organizations such as OMS and FAO due to its nutritional value and its properties. Based on the existing literature, there is substantial evidence of the nutritional quality of the algae as well as their functional elements. However, much quantification is still necessary as well as studying possible adverse effects. The present review describes the compounds of alimentary interest present in these algae as well as different extraction techniques assisted by different energetic mechanisms (such as heat, supercritical-fluid, microwave, ultrasound, enzymes, electric field, high hydrostatic pressure, among others). The most challenging and crucial issues are reducing microalgae growth cost and optimizing extraction techniques. This review aimed a better understanding of the uses of microalgae for new researches in nutrition. Because of the use of microalgae is still a field in which there is much to discover, it is likely that more benefits will be found in its consumption

NH2 as a directing group: from the unexpected cyclopalladation of aminoesters to the preparation of benzolactams by Pd(II)-catalyzed carbonylation of N-unprotected arylethylamines

An unusual NH2-directed Pd(II)-catalytic carbonylation of quaternary aromatic α-amino esters to yield benzolactams has been developed. The steric hindrance around the amino group is pivotal for the success of the process. The stoichiometric cyclometallation of a variety amino esters has been studied in order to evaluate the influence of the different variables (size of the metallacycle, aromatic ring substituents, and steric bulk) in the process, and a complete kinetico-mechanistic study of the cyclopalladation process has been carried out. The experimental results indicate that the full substitution of the carbon in the α position of the amino esters plays an important role in their cyclopalladation reaction. The reaction shows a strong bias to 6-membered lactams over the 5-membered analogues, which can be explained by a greater reactivity of the six-membered palladacycles