Multilayered folding with voids

In the deformation of layered materials such as geological strata, or stacks of paper, mechanical properties compete with the geometry of layering. Smooth, rounded corners lead to voids between the layers, while close packing of the layers results in geometrically-induced curvature singularities. When voids are penalized by external pressure, the system is forced to trade off these competing effects, leading to sometimes striking periodic patterns. In this paper we construct a simple model of geometrically nonlinear multi-layered structures under axial loading and pressure confinement, with non-interpenetration conditions separating the layers. Energy minimizers are characterized as solutions of a set of fourth-order nonlinear differential equations with contact-force Lagrange multipliers, or equivalently of a fourth-order free-boundary problem. We numerically investigate the solutions of this free boundary problem, and compare them with the periodic solutions observed experimentally

Mutation Testing as a Safety Net for Test Code Refactoring

Refactoring is an activity that improves the internal structure of the code without altering its external behavior. When performed on the production code, the tests can be used to verify that the external behavior of the production code is preserved. However, when the refactoring is performed on test code, there is no safety net that assures that the external behavior of the test code is preserved. In this paper, we propose to adopt mutation testing as a means to verify if the behavior of the test code is preserved after refactoring. Moreover, we also show how this approach can be used to identify the part of the test code which is improperly refactored

Inviability of a DNA2 deletion mutant is due to the DNA damage checkpoint

Dna2 is a dual polarity exo/endonuclease, and 5' to 3' DNA helicase involved in Okazaki Fragment Processing (OFP) and Double-Strand Break (DSB) Repair. In yeast, DNA2 is an essential gene, as expected for a DNA replication protein. Suppression of the lethality of dna2Δ mutants has been found to occur by two mechanisms: overexpression of RAD27^(scFEN1), encoding a 5' to 3' exo/endo nuclease that processes Okazaki fragments (OFs) for ligation, or deletion of PIF1, a 5' to 3' helicase involved in mitochondrial recombination, telomerase inhibition and OFP. Mapping of a novel, spontaneously arising suppressor of dna2Δ now reveals that mutation of rad9 and double mutation of rad9 mrc1 can also suppress the lethality of dna2Δ mutants. Interaction of dna2Δ and DNA damage checkpoint mutations provides insight as to why dna2Δ is lethal but rad27Δ is not, even though evidence shows that Rad27^(ScFEN1) processes most of the Okazaki fragments, while Dna2 processes only a subset

A Study of Equivalent and Stubborn Mutation Operators using Human Analysis of Equivalence

Though mutation testing has been widely studied for more than thirty years, the prevalence and properties of equivalent mutants remain largely unknown. We report on the causes and prevalence of equivalent mutants and their relationship to stubborn mutants (those that remain undetected by a high quality test suite, yet are non-equivalent). Our results, based on manual analysis of 1,230 mutants from 18 programs, reveal a highly uneven distribution of equivalence and stubbornness. For example, the ABS class and half UOI class generate many equivalent and almost no stubborn mutants, while the LCR class generates many stubborn and few equivalent mutants. We conclude that previous test effectiveness studies based on fault seeding could be skewed, while developers of mutation testing tools should prioritise those operators that we found generate disproportionately many stubborn (and few equivalent) mutants

Singular and regular solutions of a non-linear parabolic system

We study a dissipative nonlinear equation modelling certain features of the Navier-Stokes equations. We prove that the evolution of radially symmetric compactly supported initial data does not lead to singularities in dimensions $n\leq 4$. For dimensions $n>4$ we present strong numerical evidence supporting existence of blow-up solutions. Moreover, using the same techniques we numerically confirm a conjecture of Lepin regarding existence of self-similar singular solutions to a semi-linear heat equation.Comment: 16 page

New Measurements of Nucleon Structure Functions from the CCFR/NuTeV Collaboration

We report on the extraction of the structure functions F_2 and Delta xF_3 = xF_3nu-xF_3nubar from CCFR neutrino-Fe and antineutrino-Fe differential cross sections. The extraction is performed in a physics model independent (PMI) way. This first measurement for Delta xF_3, which is useful in testing models of heavy charm production, is higher than current theoretical predictions. The F_2 (PMI) values measured in neutrino and muon scattering are in good agreement with the predictions of Next to Leading Order PDFs (using massive charm production schemes), thus resolving the long-standing discrepancy between the two sets of data.Comment: 5 pages. Presented by Arie Bodek at the CIPNAP2000 Conference, Quebec City, May 200

The Link between General Relativity and Shape Dynamics

We show that one can construct two equivalent gauge theories from a linking theory and give a general construction principle for linking theories which we use to construct a linking theory that proves the equivalence of General Relativity and Shape Dynamics, a theory with fixed foliation but spatial conformal invariance. This streamlines the rather complicated construction of this equivalence performed previously. We use this streamlined argument to extend the result to General Relativity with asymptotically flat boundary conditions. The improved understanding of linking theories naturally leads to the Lagrangian formulation of Shape Dynamics, which allows us to partially relate the degrees of freedom.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, no figure