Making Property-Based Testing Easier to Read for Humans

Software stakeholders who do not have a technical profile (i.e. users, clients) but do want to take part in the development and/or quality assurance process of software, have an unmet need for communication on what is being tested during the development life-cycle. The transformation of test properties and models into semi-natural language representations is one way of responding to such need. Our research has demonstrated that these transformations are challenging but feasible, and they have been implemented into a prototype tool called readSpec. The readSpec tool transforms universally-quantified test properties and stateful test models - the two kinds of test artifacts used in property-based testing - into plain text interpretations. The tool has been successfully evaluated on the PBT artifacts produced and used within the FP7 PROWESS project by industrial partners

Agroforestry Systems in Cuba: Some Aspects of Animal Production

The silvopastoral systems, that nowadays constitute scientific achievements of the Grasses and Forages Research Station “Indio Hatuey , have been developed from the results of investigations that were carried out since the 1980s, to improve the productivity of natural pastures through the introduction of valuable herbaceous species and tree legumes. Those investigations also determined the essential elements of pasture management such as the optimal stocking rates for low input systems and suitable methods of grazing to obtain sustainability of grasslands

Agroforestry Systems in Cuba: Some Aspects of Animal Production

The silvopastoral systems, that nowadays constitute scientific achievements of the Grasses and Forages Research Station Indio Hatuey , have been developed from the results of investigations that were carried out since the 1980s, to improve the productivity of natural pastures through the introduction of valuable herbaceous species and tree legumes. Those investigations also determined the essential elements of pasture management such as the optimal stocking rates for low input systems and suitable methods of grazing to obtain sustainability of grasslands

Infliximab microencapsulation: an innovative approach for intra-articular administration of biologics in the management of rheumatoid arthritis-in vitro evaluation

Microencapsulation of the therapeutical monoclonal antibody infliximab (INF) was investigated as an innovative approach to improve its stability and to achieve formulations with convenient features for intra-articular administration. Ultrasonic atomization (UA), a novel alternative to microencapsulate labile drugs, was compared with the conventional emulsion/evaporation method (Em/Ev) using biodegradable polymers, specifically Polyactive® 1000PEOT70PBT30 [poly(ethylene-oxide-terephthalate)/poly(butylene-terephthalate); PEOT-PBT] and its polymeric blends with poly-(D, L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) RG502 and RG503 (PEOT-PBT:PLGA; 65:35). Six different formulations of spherical core-shell microcapsules were successfully developed and characterized. The UA method achieved a significantly higher encapsulation efficiency (69.7-80.25%) than Em/Ev (17.3-23.0%). Mean particle size, strongly determined by the microencapsulation method and to a lesser extent by polymeric composition, ranged from 26.6 to 49.9 µm for UA and 1.5-2.1 µm for Em/Ev. All formulations demonstrated sustained INF release in vitro for up to 24 days, with release rates modulated by polymeric composition and microencapsulation technique. Both methods preserved INF biological activity, with microencapsulated INF showing higher efficacy than commercial formulations at comparable doses regarding bioactive tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) neutralization according to WEHI-13VAR bioassay. Microparticles' biocompatibility and extensive internalization by THP-1-derived macrophages was demonstrated. Furthermore, high in vitro anti-inflammatory activity was achieved after treatment of THP-1 cells with INF-loaded microcapsules, significatively reducing in vitro production of TNF-α and interleucine-6 (Il-6)Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. Iván Lamela-Gómez received funding from the “Axudas á etapa predoutoral da Xunta de Galicia, cofinanciadas polo programa operativo FSE Galicia 2014–2020” predoctoral grant program. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e ordenación universitaria, Xunta de Galicia, Spain. This research was partially funded by Consellería de Cultura, Educación e ordenación universitaria, Xunta de Galicia, Spain. Axudas para a consolidación e estructuración de unidades de investigación competitivas Modalidad A: Grupos de Referencia Competitiva (ED341C 2017/13). This research was also partially funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (UID/DTP/04138/2019 and UIDB/04138/2020 to iMed.ULisboa), and principal investigator grants CEECIND/03143/2017 (L. M. Gonçalves)S

Near-field scanning optical microscopy to study nanometric structural details of LiNbO3 Zn-diffused channel waveguides

A near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) is used to perform structural and optical characterization of the surface layer after Zn diffusion in a channel waveguide fabricated on lithium niobate. A theoretical approach has been developed in order to extract refractive index contrast from NSOM optical transmission measurements (illumination configuration). As a result, different solid phases present on the sample surface can be identified, such as ZnO and ZnNb2O6. They appear like submicrometric crystallites aligned along the domain wall direction, whose origin can be ascribed to some strain relaxation mechanism during the annealing process after Zn [email protected]

Anti-reflection coatings on 3D printed components

The use of anti-reflection coatings on 3D-printed components to reduce both Fresnel reflections and scattering is explored. Two similar photo-initiated acrylic commercial material structures, known as Standard Clear (SC: T~60% @ λ = 800 nm) and VeroClear (VC: T~90% @ λ = 800 nm), used specifically for optical components, are examined. The refractive indices for slab samples~(5 × 5 × 0.7) cm are measured at λ = 650 nm and averaged over the slab area: n(SC)~(1.49 ± 0.04) and n(VC)~(1.42 ± 0.03). Within experimental error, novel Shore D mapping is used to show hardness distribution across the surface flats, with VC slightly harder than SC, where VC = 85.9 ± 0.3 and SC = 84.4 ± 1.3, indicating uniform hardness. A TiO2/MgF2 anti-reflection twin-layer coating is deposited onto one side of an unpolished SC slab and binds well, passing standard peeling and humidity tests. Shore hardness increases to SCCOATED = 87.5 ± 1.5. It is found to reduce the measured Fresnel reflection and surface scatter by~65% without requiring major polishing, paving the way for lower-cost high-quality optics. The demonstration of successful anti-reflection coatings will benefit all 3D-printed component finishes, permitting viable film deposition more broadly