Preliminary design of the redundant software experiment

The goal of the present experiment is to characterize the fault distributions of highly reliable software replicates, constructed using techniques and environments which are similar to those used in comtemporary industrial software facilities. The fault distributions and their effect on the reliability of fault tolerant configurations of the software will be determined through extensive life testing of the replicates against carefully constructed randomly generated test data. Each detected error will be carefully analyzed to provide insight in to their nature and cause. A direct objective is to develop techniques for reducing the intensity of coincident errors, thus increasing the reliability gain which can be achieved with fault tolerance. Data on the reliability gains realized, and the cost of the fault tolerant configurations can be used to design a companion experiment to determine the cost effectiveness of the fault tolerant strategy. Finally, the data and analysis produced by this experiment will be valuable to the software engineering community as a whole because it will provide a useful insight into the nature and cause of hard to find, subtle faults which escape standard software engineering validation techniques and thus persist far into the software life cycle

The Causes and Consequences of a Colonising Pollinator

Relatório de estágio do mestrado em Ensino da Educação Física dos Ensinos Básicos e Secundário, apresentado à Faculdade de Ciências do Desporto e da Educação Física da Universidade de CoimbraO Relatório Final de Estágio insere-se no âmbito da unidade curricular Relatório de Estágio, do 2º ano do Mestrado em Ensino da Educação Física dos Ensinos Básico e Secundário, da Faculdade de Ciências do Desporto e Educação Física da Universidade de Coimbra. Esta etapa representa o culminar da formação académica em que são colocados em prática, em contexto real, todos os conhecimentos adquiridos até ao momento. Todas as experiências vivenciadas, aprendizagens e conhecimentos adquiridos permitem-nos hoje o desempenho de uma prática pedagógica de mestria na área da Educação Física. O Relatório Final de Estágio pretende a realização de uma reflexão por parte do estagiário, relativa às atividades desenvolvidas e aprendizagens realizadas durante o estágio pedagógico, contemplando sempre as suas expectativas iniciais. Este documento contempla três grandes capítulos. O primeiro é uma área essencialmente descritiva relativamente à contextualização pedagógica. O segundo consiste numa reflexão crítica das práticas pedagógicas realizadas. Por último, o terceiro capítulo pretende ser um aprofundamento de um tema/problema. O tema/problema selecionado foram as atitudes dos alunos sem deficiência face inclusão de alunos com necessidades educativas especiais na Educação Física. O Estágio Pedagógico foi realizado na Escola Básica com Secundário José Falcão de Miranda do Corvo, no ano letivo de 2013/2014, para a disciplina de Educação Física ao 7º ano de escolaridade. The Final Training Report falls within the scope of the Course Training Report, the 2nd year of the Master in Teaching Physical Education Primary and Secondary Education, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra. This step is the culmination of academic training in which are put into practice, in the real world, all the knowledge acquired so far. All the experiences, skills and knowledge acquired today allow us the performance of a pedagogical practice of mastery in the area of Physical Education. The main goal of the Final Training Report is to conduct to a reflection of the trainee on the developed and knowledge acquired during the practicum activities, always contemplating their initial expectations. This document contains three main chapters. The first is an essentially descriptive area regarding pedagogical context. The second is a critical reflection on the practices carried out. Finally, the third chapter will be a deepening of an issue / problem. The issue / problem selected were the attitudes of students without disabilities face inclusion of pupils with special educational needs in physical education. The Pedagogical Training was conducted in Secondary School with Joseph Falcon Miranda do Corvo, in school year 2013/2014, to the discipline of Physical Education through the 7th grade

An experimental evaluation of software redundancy as a strategy for improving reliability

The strategy of using multiple versions of independently developed software as a means to tolerate residual software design faults is suggested by the success of hardware redundancy for tolerating hardware failures. Although, as generally accepted, the independence of hardware failures resulting from physical wearout can lead to substantial increases in reliability for redundant hardware structures, a similar conclusion is not immediate for software. The degree to which design faults are manifested as independent failures determines the effectiveness of redundancy as a method for improving software reliability. Interest in multi-version software centers on whether it provides an adequate measure of increased reliability to warrant its use in critical applications. The effectiveness of multi-version software is studied by comparing estimates of the failure probabilities of these systems with the failure probabilities of single versions. The estimates are obtained under a model of dependent failures and compared with estimates obtained when failures are assumed to be independent. The experimental results are based on twenty versions of an aerospace application developed and certified by sixty programmers from four universities. Descriptions of the application, development and certification processes, and operational evaluation are given together with an analysis of the twenty versions

Predictors of silicosis and variation in prevalence across mines among employed gold miners in South Africa

Background The stated intention to eliminate silicosis from the South African goldmining industry as well as current programmes to find and compensate ex-miners with silicosis require an understanding of variation in silicosis prevalence across the industry. We aimed to identify the predictors of radiological silicosis in a large sample of working miners across gold mines in South Africa. Methods Routine surveillance chest radiographs were collected from 15 goldmine “clusters” in a baseline survey undertaken in preparation for a separate tuberculosis isoniazid prophylaxis trial. All images were read for silicosis by a health professional experienced in using the International Labour Organisation (ILO) classification. Profusion thresholds of > 1/0 and > 1/1 were used. Demographic and occupational information was obtained by questionnaire. Predictors of silicosis were examined in a multivariable logistic regression model, including age, gender, racial ascription, country of origin, years since starting mine employment, mine shaft, skill category, underground work status and tuberculosis. Results The crude silicosis prevalence at ILO > 1/1 was 3.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.5–4.1%]. The range across mine shafts was 0.8–6.9%. After adjustment for covariates, the interquartile range across shafts was reduced from 2.4 to 1.2%. Black miners [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.8; 95% CI 1.1–7.2] and miners in full-time underground work (aOR 2.1; 95% CI 1.3–3.4) had substantially elevated odds of silicosis, while workers from Mozambique had lower odds (aOR 0.54; 95% CI 0.38–0.77). Silicosis odds rose sharply with both age and years since starting in the industry (p for linear trend  15 years since first exposure and 2.2% < 10 years. Conclusions In surveillance of silicosis in working gold miners time since first exposure remains a powerful predictor. Age appears to be an independent predictor, while the detection of radiological silicosis in short-service miners requires attention. Public risk reporting by mines should include factors bearing on silicosis prevalence, specifically dust concentrations, with independent verification. Studies of silicosis and tuberculosis in ex-miners are needed, supported by an accessible electronic database of the relevant medical and dust exposure records of all gold miners

Great balls of fire : activation and signalling of inflammatory caspases

Innate immune responses are tightly regulated by various pathways to control infections and maintain homeostasis. One of these pathways, the inflammasome pathway, activates a family of cysteine proteases called inflammatory caspases. They orchestrate an immune response by cleaving specific cellular substrates. Canonical inflammasomes activate caspase-1, whereas non-canonical inflammasomes activate caspase-4 and -5 in humans and caspase-11 in mice. Caspases are highly specific enzymes that select their substrates through diverse mechanisms. During inflammation, caspase activity is responsible for the secretion of inflammatory cytokines and the execution of a form of lytic and inflammatory cell death called pyroptosis. This review aims to bring together our current knowledge of the biochemical processes behind inflammatory caspase activation, substrate specificity, and substrate signalling

The neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid repels pollinating flies and beetles at field-realistic concentrations

Neonicotinoids are widely used systemic insecticides which, when applied to flowering crops, are translocated to the nectar and pollen where they may impact upon pollinators. Given global concerns over pollinator declines, this potential impact has recently received much attention. Field exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoids depends on the concentrations present in flowering crops and the degree to which pollinators choose to feed upon them. Here we describe a simple experiment using paired yellow pan traps with or without insecticide to assess whether the commonly used neonicotinoid imidacloprid repels or attracts flying insects. Both Diptera and Coleoptera exhibited marked avoidance of traps containing imidacloprid at a field-realistic dose of 1 μg L-1, with Diptera avoiding concentrations as low as 0.01 μg L-1. This is to our knowledge the first evidence for any biological activity at such low concentrations, which are below the limits of laboratory detection using most commonly available techniques. Catch of spiders in pan traps was also slightly reduced by the highest concentrations of imidacloprid used (1 μg L-1), but catch was increased by lower concentrations. It remains to be seen if the repellent effect on insects occurs when neonicotinoids are present in real flowers, but if so then this could have implications for exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoids and for crop pollination. © 2013 Easton, Goulson

Uncertainty in geomorphological responses to climate change

Acknowledgements We acknowledge the careful comments from two anonymous reviewers. Funding information This work was partly supported by a Middlesex University PhD Studentship to EA and a Coventry University PhD Studentship to PA. NERC for radiocarbon dating provided funding support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD