Amorphous slicing of extended finite state machines

Slicing is useful for many Software Engineering applications and has been widely studied for three decades, but there has been comparatively little work on slicing Extended Finite State Machines (EFSMs). This paper introduces a set of dependency based EFSM slicing algorithms and an accompanying tool. We demonstrate that our algorithms are suitable for dependence based slicing. We use our tool to conduct experiments on ten EFSMs, including benchmarks and industrial EFSMs. Ours is the first empirical study of dependence based program slicing for EFSMs. Compared to the only previously published dependence based algorithm, our average slice is smaller 40% of the time and larger only 10% of the time, with an average slice size of 35% for termination insensitive slicing

FORTEST: Formal methods and testing

Formal methods have traditionally been used for specification and development of software. However there are potential benefits for the testing stage as well. The panel session associated with this paper explores the usefulness or otherwise of formal methods in various contexts for improving software testing. A number of different possibilities for the use of formal methods are explored and questions raised. The contributors are all members of the UK FORTEST Network on formal methods and testing. Although the authors generally believe that formal methods are useful in aiding the testing process, this paper is intended to provoke discussion. Dissenters are encouraged to put their views to the panel or individually to the authors

An information theoretic notion of software testability

CONTEXT: In software testing, Failed Error Propagation (FEP) is the situation in which a faulty program state occurs during the execution of the system under test (SUT) but this does not lead to incorrect output. It is known that FEP can adversely affect software testing and this has resulted in associated information theoretic measures. OBJECTIVE: To devise measures that can be used to assess the testability of the SUT. By testability, we mean how likely it is that a faulty program state, that occurs during testing, will lead to incorrect output. Previous work has considered a single program point rather than an entire program. METHOD: New, more fine-grained, measures were devised. Experiments were used to evaluate these and the previously defined measures (Squeeziness and Normalised Squeeziness). The experiments assessed how well these measures correlated with an estimate of the probability of FEP occurring during testing. Mutants were used to estimate this probability. RESULTS: A strong rank correlation was found between several of the measures and the probability of FEP. Importantly, this included the Normalised Squeeziness of the whole SUT, which is simpler to compute, or estimate, than most of the other measures considered. Additional experiments found that the measures were relatively insensitive to the choice of mutants and also test suite. CONCLUSION: There is scope to use information theoretic measures to estimate how prone an SUT is to FEP. As a result, there is potential to use such measures to prioritise testing or estimate how much testing an SUT might require

Every learner counts: Learning mathematics across the curriculum

In the 21st century, mathematical confidence and functionality are considered to be of crucial importance to individuals and to national economies, which is reflected in national policies, as well as in the status of international performance comparisons such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 2009) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IAEEA), n.d.), which compare educational systems and outcomes for participating countries. However, as a subject specialist in another subject, you might well think you simply can’t afford the teaching time to deliberately embed mathematics in your lesson. In this chapter we try to show how, by being aware of how your subject harnesses mathematical thinking, even if only in low-key ways, you can support learners in making confident and informed use of that – but we also encourage you to keep talking to the teachers of mathematics in your school, so that they become more aware of what your learners are meeting and when. That way, learners can begin to make meaningful connections across the curriculum, and enhance their grasp of, and interest in, your own subject

Exogenous pulmonary surfactant in COVID-19 ARDS. The similarities to neonatal RDS suggest a new scenario for an 'old' strategy

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) related to SARS-CoV-2 infection has some unusual characteristics that differentiate it from the pathophysiology described in the more 'typical' ARDS. Among multiple hypotheses, a close similarity has been suggested between COVID-19 ARDS and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). With this opinion paper, we investigated the pathophysiological similarities between infant respiratory diseases (RDS and direct neonatal ARDS (NARDS)) and COVID-19 in adults. We also analysed, for the first time, similarities in the response to exogenous surfactant administration in terms of improved static compliance in RDS and direct NARDS, and adult COVID-19 ARDS. In conclusion, we believe that if the pathological processes are similar both from the pathophysiological point of view and from the response in respiratory mechanics to a recruitment treatment such as surfactant, perhaps the latter could be considered a plausible option and lead to recruitment in clinical trials currently ongoing on patients with COVID-19

Finding the elusive and causative autoantibody: An atypical case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111227/1/ccr3203.pd

The trauma film paradigm as an experimental psychopathology model of psychological trauma: intrusive memories and beyond

A better understanding of psychological trauma is fundamental to clinical psychology. Following traumatic event(s), a clinically significant number of people develop symptoms, including those of Acute Stress Disorder and/or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The trauma film paradigm offers an experimental psychopathology model to study both exposure and reactions to psychological trauma, including the hallmark symptom of intrusive memories. We reviewed 74 articles that have used this paradigm since the earliest review (Holmes & Bourne, 2008) until July 2014. Highlighting the different stages of trauma processing, i.e. pre-, peri- and post-trauma, the studies are divided according to manipulations before, during and after film viewing, for experimental as well as correlational designs. While the majority of studies focussed on the frequency of intrusive memories, other reactions to trauma were also modelled. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the trauma film paradigm as an experimental psychopathology model of trauma, consider ethical issues, and suggest future directions. By understanding the basic mechanisms underlying trauma symptom development, we can begin to translate findings from the laboratory to the clinic, test innovative science-driven interventions, and in the future reduce the debilitating effects of psychopathology following stressful and/or traumatic events

Paradoxical effects of Worrisome Thoughts Suppression: the influence of depressive mood

Thought suppression increases the persistence of unwanted idiosyncratic worries thoughts when individuals try to suppress them. The failure of suppression may contribute to the development and maintenance of emotional disorders. Depressive people seem particulary prone to engage in unsuccessful mental control strategies such as thought suppression. Worry has been reported to be elevated in depressed individuals and a dysphoric mood may also contribute for the failure of suppression. No studies examine, however, the suppression of worisome thoughts in individuals with depressive symptoms. To investigate the suppression effects of worrisome thoughts, 46 participants were selected according to the cut-off score of a depressive symptomatology scale and they were divided in two groups (subclinical and nonclinical group). All the individuals took part in an experimental paradigm of thought suppression. The results of the mixed factorial analysis of variance revealed an increased frequency of worrisome thoughts during the suppression phase on depending of the depressive symptoms. These findings confirm that depressive mood can reduce the success of suppression.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio