Will My Tests Tell Me If I Break This Code?

Automated tests play an important role in software evolution because they can rapidly detect faults introduced during changes. In practice, code-coverage metrics are often used as criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of test suites with focus on regression faults. However, code coverage only expresses which portion of a system has been executed by tests, but not how effective the tests actually are in detecting regression faults. Our goal was to evaluate the validity of code coverage as a measure for test effectiveness. To do so, we conducted an empirical study in which we applied an extreme mutation testing approach to analyze the tests of open-source projects written in Java. We assessed the ratio of pseudo-tested methods (those tested in a way such that faults would not be detected) to all covered methods and judged their impact on the software project. The results show that the ratio of pseudo-tested methods is acceptable for unit tests but not for system tests (that execute large portions of the whole system). Therefore, we conclude that the coverage metric is only a valid effectiveness indicator for unit tests.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Too Trivial To Test? An Inverse View on Defect Prediction to Identify Methods with Low Fault Risk

Background. Test resources are usually limited and therefore it is often not possible to completely test an application before a release. To cope with the problem of scarce resources, development teams can apply defect prediction to identify fault-prone code regions. However, defect prediction tends to low precision in cross-project prediction scenarios. Aims. We take an inverse view on defect prediction and aim to identify methods that can be deferred when testing because they contain hardly any faults due to their code being "trivial". We expect that characteristics of such methods might be project-independent, so that our approach could improve cross-project predictions. Method. We compute code metrics and apply association rule mining to create rules for identifying methods with low fault risk. We conduct an empirical study to assess our approach with six Java open-source projects containing precise fault data at the method level. Results. Our results show that inverse defect prediction can identify approx. 32-44% of the methods of a project to have a low fault risk; on average, they are about six times less likely to contain a fault than other methods. In cross-project predictions with larger, more diversified training sets, identified methods are even eleven times less likely to contain a fault. Conclusions. Inverse defect prediction supports the efficient allocation of test resources by identifying methods that can be treated with less priority in testing activities and is well applicable in cross-project prediction scenarios.Comment: Submitted to PeerJ C

Cryogenic silicon surface ion trap

Trapped ions are pre-eminent candidates for building quantum information processors and quantum simulators. They have been used to demonstrate quantum gates and algorithms, quantum error correction, and basic quantum simulations. However, to realise the full potential of such systems and make scalable trapped-ion quantum computing a reality, there exist a number of practical problems which must be solved. These include tackling the observed high ion-heating rates and creating scalable trap structures which can be simply and reliably produced. Here, we report on cryogenically operated silicon ion traps which can be rapidly and easily fabricated using standard semiconductor technologies. Single $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ions have been trapped and used to characterize the trap operation. Long ion lifetimes were observed with the traps exhibiting heating rates as low as $\dot{\bar{n}}=$ 0.33 phonons/s at an ion-electrode distance of 230 $\mu$m. These results open many new avenues to arrays of micro-fabricated ion traps.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Geld als Thema im Lernbereich Globale Entwicklung

Ein Hauptaugenmerk dieser Diplomarbeit ist die Darstellung der Geldthematik in didaktischen Konzepten der entwicklungspolitischen Bildung und des Globalen Lernens. Stellvertretend für diese Konzepte wird der „Orientierungsrahmen Lernbereich Globale Entwicklung“ kritisch aufgearbeitet. Dieser gilt als Leitfaden für die Umsetzung globaler Themen im Schulunterricht und Lehrplan an deutschen Schulen, dennoch wird er auch in Österreich rezipiert und diskutiert (vgl. Abschnitt 2.3.2.4). Sinngemäß der UN-Dekade „Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung“ sollen allen Menschen neue Bildungschancen ermöglicht werden, „[…] die für eine lebenswerte Zukunft und eine positive Veränderung der Gesellschaft erforderlich sind. […]“(UNESCO). Ein vielfältiges Themenspektrum wird in den Materialien, wie im Orientierungsrahmen, vorgeschlagen. Nach einer inhaltlichen Aufarbeitung der zentralen Begriffe wurde anhand einer explizierenden qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse die Forschungsfrage bearbeitet. Für die Auswertung des empirischen Teils werden die im inhaltlichen Teil erarbeiteten „Qualitäten des Geldes“ miteinbezogen, und mit ihrer Hilfe geprüft, inwiefern die verschiedenen Dimensionen des Geldes in den ausgewählten Analysematerialien berücksichtigt wurden. Zusätzlich dazu wurden die „Beurteilungskriterien von Unterrichtsmaterialien für das ‚Globale Lernen‘“ hinsichtlich der inhaltlichen Darstellung berücksichtigt. In dieser Arbeit wird ein kritischer Blick auf die Darstellung des „Geldes“ in ausgewählten außerschulischen Lehrmaterialien geworfen. Ausgehend von bisherigen Beobachtungen, zeichnet sich ab, dass trotz umfangreicher Bildungsziele und Themenschwerpunkte die Geldthematik im Lernbereich Globale Entwicklung theoretisch und praktisch nur rudimentär berücksichtigt wird. Die Arbeitshypothesen haben sich nicht vollständig bestätigen lassen. So zeigte sich, beispielsweise in der Spielanleitung des Monopoly Spiels, dass es zwar zahlreiche Textpassagen gibt, die den Geldbegriff verwenden, dennoch konnte aus diesen Informationen keine ausreichende Explikation gebildet werden. Es zeigte sich, dass die geistige Qualität, auch wenn diese nur einseitig dargestellt wurde, durchaus berücksichtigt wurde. Die cleanEuro-Materialien behandeln den Geldbegriff nur indirekt. Auch wenn sich das gesamte Dokument mit Konsum und der Verwendung von Geld beschäftigt, so bleibt innerhalb des Dokuments das genaue Verständnis unangesprochen. Tendenziell zeigt sich somit, dass der Geldbegriff in den zur Analyse herangezogenen Materialien nicht kritisch behandelt wird. Hierbei manifestiert sich kein Unterschied, inwiefern diese Lehrmaterialien im Sinne der Beurteilungskriterien von Unterrichtsmaterialien für das „Globales Lernen“ berücksichtigt wurden.The aim of this thesis is to analyse the depiction of money in teaching concepts used in the fields of development education and global learning. With the research question: How is the theme of "money" shown in selected teaching materials of the Global Education? Is discussed whether this topic is considered seriously or not. The ‘learning orientation framework for Global Development’ has been examined critically as an example of these concepts. It serves as a guideline for the introduction of global issues in the German curriculum and is well received in Austria as well (see section 2.3.2.4). In accordance with the UN decade ‘Education for Sustainable Development’, all people should have access to new educational opportunities, "[…] which are necessary for a viable future and a positive change in society."(UNESCO) A wide range of topics is proposed in the materials as well as in the policy framework. The purpose of this thesis is to critically look at the concept of money put forward in selected non-school teaching materials. Based on my observations, I conclude that money issues merely play a minor role, both in theory and practice of Global Education in spite of extensive educational objectives in the framework. These findings are proven in the empirical part of this work by means of two selected materials (cleanEuro-Project ; Monopoly) After an examination of the central concepts a qualitative content analysis by Mayring is used to explore the research question. The ‘qualities of money’, explored in the theoretical part, are used again in the analysis of the empirical part as they allow the consideration of how the various dimensions of money are included in the selected materials. The evaluation criteria of teaching materials for ‘Global Learning’ are taken into account additionally. The manual of the Monopoly game has for instance indeed several passages using the notion of money in a very artifical way and while the empirical research shows that the given information does not offer a sufficient explanation, the spiritual quality of money was taken into account, even if represented one-sidedly. The clean-Euro materials address the concept of money merely indirectly. Even as the entire document deals with consumption and the use of money, the underlying understanding of it remains unaddressed. The overall conclusion is that the notion of money is tendentially not critically analyzed in the selected materials

Elektronische Club Kultur im Wandel

Dieser Diplomarbeit liegt die Forschungsfrage zu Grunde, was aus den Utopien der frühen elektronischen Club Kultur wurde. Auf der Suche nach Antworten wurde der Weg der qualitativen Sozialforschung eingeschlagen. Mit elf ExpertInnen, allesamt seit bereits mehreren Jahrzehnten in der elektronischen Club Kultur aktiv, wurden Leitfaden-Interviews durchgeführt. Dabei wurden folgende Ziele verfolgt: Zum einen sollte das Untersuchungsfeld abgesteckt werden; es sollte umrissen werden, was unter elektronischer Club Kultur zu verstehen ist und aus welchen Musik- und Kunstströmungen sie sich Ende der 1980er Jahre entwickelt hat, um ihren Ursprung nachvollziehbar zu machen. Weiters sollten die Merkmale dieser neuen elektronischen Club Kultur herausgearbeitet werden. In einem nächsten Schritt mussten die Utopien konkret gefasst werden. Bei der Interviewanalyse kristallisierten sich fünf Utopien heraus: 1. Zurücktreten des KünstlerInnen-Subjekts hinter die Musik, 2. Demokratisierung der Produktionsmittel, 3. Der Autor als Produzent, 4. Elektronische Musik als internationale Sprache, 5. Einebnung der Grenzen zwischen Klassen, Ethnien, Geschlecht. Diese Schematisierung wurde in weiterer Folge beibehalten. Daraufhin wurde die heutige Beschaffenheit der elektronischen Club Kultur nachgezeichnet. Die Hypothese war, dass die elektronische Club Kultur vom Kapitalismus vereinnahmt wurde. Um diese Hypothese zu überprüfen, wurde das Buch „Der neue Geist des Kapitalismus“ von Luc Boltanski und Ève Chiapello herangezogen. Zuerst wurde dargelegt, was unter dem Begriff „Geist des Kapitalismus“ zu verstehen ist, und wie es laut Boltanski und Chiapello zu der Bildung eines neuen Geistes des Kapitalismus kommt. Derzeit befinden wir uns in einer Phase, so Boltanski und Chiapello, in der sich der dritte Geist des Kapitalismus manifestiert, der die Künstlerkritik auf Kosten der Sozialkritik absorbiert. In weiterer Folge wurden die Merkmale aufgelistet, die diesen neuen Geist des Kapitalismus kennzeichnen. Schließlich wurden Parallelen zwischen den fünf Utopien und den Merkmalen des dritten Geistes des Kapitalismus gezogen. Es kann abschließend festgestellt werden, dass die elektronische Club Kultur tatsächlich vom Kapitalismus weitgehend vereinnahmt wurde, in manchen Bereichen haben sich die Utopien aber auch erfüllt.This research paper questions what happened to the early utopian ideals of electronic club culture, attempting to identify whether these ideals have been realised, and if not, why. In order to answer the research question, qualitative social research was utilised. Guided interviews were undertaken with eleven experts who have worked within the field of electronic club culture for several decades. Firstly, the paper offers a definition of electronic club culture, tracing its origins and influences across many different fields of art and music, in order to define its key characteristics. Through analysis of the interviews, five individual utopian ideals were defined, and a concrete definition of each offered. The five utopias emerge as; 1. A change in focus, whereby the artist themselves steps back behind the music they create; 2. Democratization through the means of production of electronic music; 3. The author as producer; 4. Electronic music as an international language, and 5. The breaking down of barriers between ethnicity, class and gender. These five utopian ideals set the parametres of the research question. Next, a description of the current electronic music scene is presented. The research hypothesis is that electronic club culture has been dramatically affected and shaped by capitalism. In order to prove whether this hypothesis is correct, the paper turns to „Der neue Geist des Kapitalismus“ by Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello. First the paper explores the authors' definition of the „Ghost of Capitalism“ and how a new „ghost“ emerges. Currently, Boltanski and Chiapello argue, we are in a phase where the third Ghost of capitalism has become solid, which has absorbed the artists critique at the expense of the social critique. The characteristics of this new „Ghost“ of capitalism are outlined. Finally the thesis makes parallels between the five utopias above, and the characteristics of the third Ghost of capitalism. In summary it can be stated that electronic club culture has indeed become absorbed by capitalism, but in several fields the utopian ideals have, in fact, been realised

New pathways for improved delivery of public goods from agriculture and forestry

This special issue of Bio-based and Applied Economics (BAE) features a selection of five papers developed within the EU H2020 project ‘CONtract SOLutions for Effective and lasting delivery of agri-environmentalclimate public goods by EU agriculture and forestry’ (CONSOLE) (H2020- RUR-2018-2, GA No. 817949). CONSOLE has been comprehensively investigating the effectiveness, efficiency and longevity of innovative contract solutions for the provision of Agri-Environmental Climate Public Goods (AECPGs), the acceptance of such contracts amongst European farmers and stakeholders, as well as the drivers and mechanisms influencing the implementation

Das Phytobenthos von Quellen und Quellbach auf einer Alm im Nationalpark Kalkalpen, Österreich

Von Mai bis Oktober 2005 wurden in dreiwöchigem Abstand im Nationalpark Kalkalpen auf der bewirtschafteten Ebenforstalm zwei Quellen und zwei Bachstandorte hinsichtlich ihrer physiko-chemischen Parameter und ihrer Phytobenthosgemeinschaften untersucht. Anhand multivariater statistischer Analysen wurden ökologische Zusammenhänge zwischen Umweltparametern und Phytobenthos ermittelt. Da im Zuge von Managementmaßnahmen die Hauptquelle der Alm eingezäunt wurde, um sie vor Vertritt durch das Weidevieh zu schützen (WEIGAND & GRAF 2002), sollten etwaige Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Quellen gefunden werden. Die Abweidung der Ufervegetation und der Vertritt führen zu einer geringeren Beschattung und zu ständigen Umwälzungen des Substrates, wodurch eine qualitative und quantitative Veränderung der Phytobenthosgemeinschaft beobachtet werden konnte. Betrachtet man hingegen die umzäunte Quelle, die eine dichte Ufervegetation und eine stabile Sedimentsituation aufweist, so findet man eine quelltypische, von Kieselalgen dominierte Phytobenthosgemeinschaft mit geringen Biovolumina vor.The phytobenthos community along a headwater in the national park Kalkalpen, Austria. — We investigated the phytobenthos community along an oligotrophic krenal karst headwater stream including its springs (Ebenforstalmbach, national park Kalkalpen, Austria). The high dynamics in hydrology and physicochemistry could be attributed mainly to precipitation and geology of the catchment area. The rivulet is located within a traditionally operated mountain pasture. Two springs, one of them fenced to avoid cattle access, and two more sites from the headwater stream were sampled from May to October 2005. Cattle had strong influence on the light availability and the sediment composition at the unfenced spring, resulting in a changed phytobenthos community structure. At the fenced spring, diatoms were found to dominate the generally low phytobenthos biomass, while Chlorophyta and Cyanoprokaryota could reach high biovolumes at the unfenced well. Rhodophyta occurred in rather high abundances at the stream sites. A principal component analysis resulted in 3 factors that can be summarized as "distance from the spring", "macroinvertebrates" and "phosphorus". The first factor separates the spring sites from the stream sites, the second one differs between the two stream sites and finally the third factor distinguishes between the fenced and the unfenced spring

LIVING LABS – INNOVATE BUSINESS MODELS FOR RURAL REGIONS

Rural regions are confronted with several challenges, such as depopulation, overageing or a declining economic importance of the primary sector. Thus, innovative efforts are required to make such regions more attractive and to maintain and further develop social and physical infrastructure. HORIZON 2020 project LIVERUR aims at strengthening rural regions by expanding innovative business models set up as Living Labs, which are user-centred and open-innovation ecosystems. Living Labs establish a sustainable stakeholder partnership, where users, policy-makers, companies and researchers engage in a long-term collaboration. Within LIVERUR, suitable rural business models are identified and will be developed towards the Living Lab concept. Therefore, a framework with a criteria system with the most relevant LIVERUR topics was developed, following a literature review on important documents of the United Nations and EU as well as scientific publications. This criteria system focuses on four main criteria: 1. Living Lab approach, 2. Economic sustainability, 3. Social sustainability and 4. Ecological sustainability. Each criterion is supplemented with 3 to 6 concrete indicators, which help to create a comprehensive view on sustainable business models linked to the Living Lab approach. The results show 20 business models within 13 pilot regions, which are largely on a high level of development, but most of them still have potential for further development. The presented framework is easy in its application and helps to assess and illustrate business models regarding Living Lab and sustainability characteristics. It is also helpful to highlight a business model´s potential for development