Investigating data-flow coverage of classes using evolutionary algorithms

It is not unusual for a software development organization to expend 40% of total project effort on testing, which call be a very laborious and time-consuming process. Therefore, there is a big necessity for test automation. This paper describes an approach to automatically generate test-data for 00 software exploiting a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to achieve high levels of data-flow (d-u) coverage. A proof-of-concept tool is presented. The experimental results from testing six Java classes helped us identify three categories of problematic test targets, and suggest that in the future full d-u coverage with a reasonable computational cost may be possible if we overcome these obstacles

Co-Created Personas: Engaging and Empowering Users with Diverse Needs Within the Design Process

Personas are powerful tools for designing technology and envisioning its usage. They are widely used to imagine archetypal users around whom to orient design work. We have been exploring co-created personas as a technique to use in co-design with users who have diverse needs. Our vision was that this would broaden the demographic and liberate co-designers of their personal relationship with a health condition. This paper reports three studies where we investigated using co-created personas with people who had Parkinson’s disease, dementia or aphasia. Observational data of co-design sessions were collected and analysed. Findings revealed that the co-created personas encouraged users with diverse needs to engage with co-designing. Importantly, they also aforded additional benefts including empowering users within a more accessible design process. Refecting on the outcomes from the diferent user groups, we conclude with a discussion of the potential for co-created personas to be applied more broadly

Device for collecting and enriching microbes

In one aspect, devices for collecting and enriching microbes are described herein. In some embodiments, such a device comprises a shape memory gel and a plurality of nanoantennas dispersed in the gel. The nanoantennas can be non-uniformly dispersed in the gel. Additionally, the nanoantennas are operable to receive an external signal and thereby induce a local change in state of the gel, such as a local change in thermodynamic state of the gel

CreaTable Content and Tangible Interaction in Aphasia

Multimedia digital content (combining pictures, text and music) is ubiquitous. The process of creating such content using existing tools typically requires complex, language-laden interactions which pose a challenge for users with aphasia (a language impairment following brain injury). Tangible interactions offer a potential means to address this challenge, however, there has been little work exploring their potential for this purpose. In this paper, we present CreaTable – a platform that enables us to explore tangible interaction as a means of supporting digital content creation for people with aphasia. We report details of the co-design of CreaTable and findings from a digital creativity workshop. Workshop findings indicated that CreaTable enabled people with aphasia to create something they would not otherwise have been able to. We report how users’ aphasia profiles affected their experience, describe tensions in collaborative content creation and provide insight into more accessible content creation using tangibles

Foray search: An effective systematic dispersal strategy in fragmented landscapes

In the absence of evidence to the contrary, population models generally assume that the dispersal trajectories of animals are random, but systematic dispersal could be more efficient at detecting new habitat and may therefore constitute a more realistic assumption. Here, we investigate, by means of simulations, the properties of a potentially widespread systematic dispersal strategy termed "foray search." Foray search was more efficient in detecting suitable habitat than was random dispersal in most landscapes and was less subject to energetic constraints. However, it also resulted in considerably shorter net dispersed distances and higher mortality per net dispersed distance than did random dispersal, and it would therefore be likely to lead to lower dispersal rates toward the margins of population networks. Consequently, the use of foray search by dispersers could crucially affect the extinction-colonization balance of metapopulations and the evolution of dispersal rates. We conclude that population models need to take the dispersal trajectories of individuals into account in order to make reliable predictions

Synergy of FM competences

Purpose Based on a content analysis of facility management (FM) competencies from three key professional associations, BIFM, IFMA and RICS, the resulting identified competencies for effective FM were found to be somewhat diverse based on association affiliation. However, the majority of emphasis clustered around five competencies that all groups coalesced around, demonstrating the strength of these shared competencies as core for FM. Findings, Key among the findings was that the top five competencies included: Compliance & standards; Contracts & procurement; Maintenance & operations; Sustainability; and Projects. Further analysis showed that each association had unique approaches in specialized areas inherent to that association’s purpose and history. There were also striking omissions on several competencies which point to a need for further discussion on whether to update/add competencies to align with other professional associations. What was clear was the balance of mentioned competencies within the full range of competencies for all three associations. It was an unexpected result which merits attention, especially in light of global standardization initiatives. Design/methodology/approach A complete review of the methodology, analysis and findings is included in this paper, providing the ability for future research to develop standardization worldwide. With the current ISO standard for Facility Management (FM) undergoing task group development, these research findings are essential for addressing industry needs in a robust, academic way. Originality/value.Discussion of the results across the broad spectrum of facility management researchers involved in EuroFM is needed to enhance standards development and advance the research agenda for academic facility management education

HFPK 334: An unusual Supernova Remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We present new Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) radio-continuum and XMM-Newton/Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) observations of the unusual supernova remnant HFPK 334 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The remnant follows a shell type morphology in the radio-continuum and has a size of $\sim$20~pc at the SMC distance. The X-ray morphology is similar, however, we detect a prominent point source close to the center of the SNR exhibiting a spectrum with a best fit powerlaw with a photon index of $\Gamma = 2.7 \pm 0.5$. This central point source is most likely a background object and cannot be directly associated with the remnant. The high temperature, nonequilibrium conditions in the diffuse region suggest that this gas has been recently shocked and point toward a younger SNR with an age of $\lesssim 1800$ years. With an average radio spectral index of $\alpha=-0.59\pm0.09$ we find that an equipartition magnetic field for the remnant is $\sim$90~$\mu$G, a value typical of younger SNRs in low-density environments. Also, we report detection of scattered radio polarisation across the remnant at 20~cm, with a peak fractional polarisation level of 25$\pm$5\%.Comment: 19 pages, 6-figures, submitted to A

Particle-unstable light nuclei with a Sturmian approach that preserves the Pauli principle

Sturmian theory for nucleon-nucleus scattering is discussed in the presence of all the phenomenological ingredients necessary for the description of weakly-bound (or particle-unstable) light nuclear systems. Currently, we use a macroscopic potential model of collective nature. The analysis shows that the couplings to low-energy collective-core excitations are fundamental but they are physically meaningful only if the constraints introduced by the Pauli principle are taken into account. The formalism leads one to discuss a new concept, Pauli hindrance, which appears to be important to understand the structure of weakly-bound and unbound systems.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, contribution to proceedings of "18th International IUPAP Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics," Santos, Brazil, August 21-26, 200

The effect of vertical prism induced stress on the accommodation and vergence ranges

This paper presents a study of the effect a vertical imbalance has on the lateral vergence and accommodation ranges as measured in standard clinical testing. The clinical tests included lateral duction ranges at 6 meters and 40 centimeters, the positive relative accommodation (PRA), and the negative relative accommodation (NRA). Nineteen subjects considered visually normal were tested once with two prism diopters of induced vertical imbalance, and once under normal conditions. An ANOV A was performed on the means of thirteen clinical tests . The F-test and probability values are also presented . Results indicate that the findings of the tests with the vertical prism in place were not different from the findings with no pr ism in place

Sled Pull Training Protocol Does Not Improve Peak Force and Increases Asymmetry in Collegiate Soccer Players

Speed and acceleration are trainable components that are critical determinants of success in team sports, particularly soccer. Lower extremity strength is one of many factors that determine the maximal force output and velocity of individuals, which is critical to success in sport. PURPOSE: To determine the effects of a 12-week sled pull training intervention on isometric leg strength and asymmetry. METHODS: Participants from Division 1 collegiate men (20 ± 1.5yrs, 168.28 ± 51.17cm, 73.44 ± 23.46kg) and women’s soccer (19.58 ± 1.02yrs, 167.07 ± 3.81cm, 62.46 ± 8.41kg) team performed pre-training isometric thigh pulls on force plates measuring peak force generation, bilaterally. Participants then performed a 12-week training program consisting of sled pulls performed at 80% of bodyweight, three days a week for 6 weeks followed by a 6-week maintenance phase of sled pulls conducted at 50% of bodyweight and post-intervention testing. RESULTS: The pre-training average relative peak force of the left and right legs of male participants were 14.46 ± 1.61N/kg and 14.42 ± 1.33N/kg, respectively, and 11.76 ± 0.69N/kg and 11.67 ± 1.08N/kg, respectively, of female participants. Sled pull training trended (p=0.07) to increase relative peak force in the right leg in both men (15.11 ± 2.14N/kg) and women (12.27 ± 1.31N/kg). However, training trended (p=0.09) to decrease peak left leg force in both men (13.60±2.32N/kg), but less so in women (11.19 ± 1.77N/kg). This leg specific training effect increased (pCONCLUSION: Sled pull training increased asymmetry in both men and women. The increased asymmetry could be attributed to a consistent decline in unilateral force production in the left leg in men. However, there was no consistent pattern to explain the increased asymmetry in women