Measuring Coverage of Prolog Programs Using Mutation Testing

Testing is an important aspect in professional software development, both to avoid and identify bugs as well as to increase maintainability. However, increasing the number of tests beyond a reasonable amount hinders development progress. To decide on the completeness of a test suite, many approaches to assert test coverage have been suggested. Yet, frameworks for logic programs remain scarce. In this paper, we introduce a framework for Prolog programs measuring test coverage using mutations. We elaborate the main ideas of mutation testing and transfer them to logic programs. To do so, we discuss the usefulness of different mutations in the context of Prolog and empirically evaluate them in a new mutation testing framework on different examples.Comment: 16 pages, Accepted for presentation in WFLP 201

Enhancing POI Testing Approach through the Use of Additional Information

[EN] Recently, a new approach to perform regression testing has been defined: the point of interest (POI) testing. A POI, in this context, is any expression of a program. The approach receives as input a set of relations between POIs from a version of a program and POIs from another version, and also a sequence of entry points, i.e. test cases. Then, a program instrumentation, an input test case generation and different comparison functions are used to obtain the final report which indicates whether the alternative version of the program behaves as expected, e.g. it produces the same outputs or it uses less CPU/memory. In this paper, we present a method to improve POI testing by including additional context information for a certain type of POIs. Concretely, we use this method to obtain an enhanced tracing of calls. Additionally, it enables new comparison modes and a categorization of unexpected behaviours.This work has been partially supported by MINECO/AEI/FEDER (EU) under grant TIN2016-76843-C4-1-R, and by the Generalitat Valenciana under grant PROMETEOII/2015/013 (SmartLogic). Salvador Tamarit was partially supported by the Conselleria de Educación, Investigación, Cultura y Deporte de la Generalitat Valenciana under grant APOSTD/2016/036.Pérez-Rubio, S.; Tamarit Muñoz, S. (2019). Enhancing POI Testing Approach through the Use of Additional Information. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 11285:74-90. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16202-3_5S74901128

A Common Framework Using Expected Types for Several Type Debugging Approaches

Many different approaches to type error debugging were developed independently. In this paper, we describe a new common framework for several type error debugging approaches. For this purpose, we introduce expected types from the outer context and propose a method for obtaining them. Using expected types, we develop three type error debugging approaches: enumeration of type error messages, type error slicing and (improved) interactive type error debugging. Based on our idea we implemented prototypes and confirm that the framework works well for type debugging

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Bone Marrow Cell-Mediated Interleukin-10 Gene Therapy of Atherosclerosis

A characteristic feature of atherosclerosis is its diffuse involvement of arteries across the entire human body. Bone marrow cells (BMC) can be simultaneously transferred with therapeutic genes and magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents prior to their transplantation. Via systemic transplantation, these dual-transferred BMCs can circulate through the entire body and thus function as vehicles to carry genes/contrast agents to multiple atherosclerosis. This study was to evaluate the feasibility of using in vivo MR imaging (MRI) to monitor BMC-mediated interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene therapy of atherosclerosis.For in vitro confirmation, donor mouse BMCs were transduced by IL-10/lentivirus, and then labeled with a T2-MR contrast agent (Feridex). For in vivo validation, atherosclerotic apoE(-/-) mice were intravenously transplanted with IL-10/Feridex-BMCs (Group I, n = 5) and Feridex-BMCs (Group II, n = 5), compared to controls without BMC transplantation (Group III, n = 5). The cell migration to aortic atherosclerotic lesions was monitored in vivo using 3.0T MRI with subsequent histology correlation. To evaluate the therapeutic effect of BMC-mediated IL-10 gene therapy, we statistically compared the normalized wall indexes (NWI) of ascending aortas amongst different mouse groups with various treatments.Of in vitro experiments, simultaneous IL-10 transduction and Feridex labeling of BMCs were successfully achieved, with high cell viability and cell labeling efficiency, as well as IL-10 expression efficiency (≥90%). Of in vivo experiments, MRI of animal groups I and II showed signal voids within the aortic walls due to Feridex-created artifacts from the migrated BMCs in the atherosclerotic plaques, which were confirmed by histology. Histological quantification showed that the mean NWI of group I was significantly lower than those of group II and group III (P<0.05).This study has confirmed the possibility of using MRI to track, in vivo, IL-10/Feridex-BMCs recruited to atherosclerotic lesions, where IL-10 genes function to prevent the progression of atherosclerosis

A comparative ultrastructural and molecular biological study on Chlamydia psittaci infection in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and non-alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency emphysema versus lung tissue of patients with hamartochondroma

BACKGROUND: Chlamydiales are familiar causes of acute and chronic infections in humans and animals. Human pulmonary emphysema is a component of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a condition in which chronic inflammation manifested as bronchiolitis and intra-alveolar accumulation of macrophages is common. It is generally presumed to be of infectious origin. Previous investigations based on serology and immunohistochemistry indicated Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection in cases of COPD. Furthermore, immunofluorescence with genus-specific antibodies and electron microscopy suggested involvement of chlamydial infection in most cases of pulmonary emphysema, but these findings could not be verified by PCR. Therefore, we examined the possibility of other chlamydial species being present in these patients. METHODS: Tissue samples from patients having undergone lung volume reduction surgery for advanced alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD, n = 6) or non-alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency emphysema (n = 34) or wedge resection for hamartochondroma (n = 14) were examined by transmission electron microscopy and PCR. RESULTS: In all cases of AATD and 79.4% of non-AATD, persistent chlamydial infection was detected by ultrastructural examination. Intra-alveolar accumulation of macrophages and acute as well as chronic bronchiolitis were seen in all positive cases. The presence of Chlamydia psittaci was demonstrated by PCR in lung tissue of 66.7% AATD vs. 29.0% non-AATD emphysema patients. Partial DNA sequencing of four positive samples confirmed the identity of the agent as Chlamydophila psittaci. In contrast, Chlamydophila pneumoniae was detected only in one AATD patient. Lung tissue of the control group of non-smokers with hamartochondroma was completely negative for chlamydial bodies by TEM or chlamydial DNA by PCR. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate a role of Chlamydophila psittaci in pulmonary emphysema by linking this chronic inflammatory process to a chronic infectious condition. This raises interesting questions on pathogenesis and source of infection

CCR2-V64I polymorphism is associated with increased risk of cervical cancer but not with HPV infection or pre-cancerous lesions in African women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cervical cancer, caused by specific oncogenic types of human papillomavirus (HPV), is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. A large number of young sexually active women get infected by HPV but only a small fraction of them have persistent infection and develop cervical cancer pointing to co- factors including host genetics that might play a role in outcome of the HPV infection. This study investigated the role of <it>CCR2-V64I </it>polymorphism in cervical cancer, pre-cancers and HPV infection in South African women resident in Western Cape. <it>CCR2-V64I </it>polymorphism has been previously reported to influence the progression to cervical cancer in some populations and has also been associated with decreased progression from HIV infection to AIDS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Genotyping for <it>CCR2-V64I </it>was done by PCR-SSP in a case-control study of 446 women (106 black African and 340 mixed-ancestry) with histologically confirmed invasive cervical cancer and 1432 controls (322 black African and 1110 mixed-ancestry) group-matched (1:3) by age, ethnicity and domicile status. In the control women HPV was detected using the Digene Hybrid Capture II test and cervical disease was detected by cervical cytology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The <it>CCR2-64I </it>variant was significantly associated with cervical cancer when cases were compared to the control group (P = 0.001). Further analysis comparing selected groups within the controls showed that individuals with abnormal cytology and high grade squamous intraepitleial neoplasia (HSIL) did not have this association when compared to women with normal cytology. HPV infection also showed no association with <it>CCR2-64I </it>variant. Comparing SIL positive controls with the cases showed a significant association of <it>CCR2-64I </it>variant (P = 0.001) with cervical cancer.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first study of the role of <it>CCR2-V64I </it>polymorphism in cervical cancer in an African population. Our results show that <it>CCR2-64I </it>variant is associated with the risk of cervical cancer but does not affect the susceptibility to HPV infection or HSIL in South African women of black and mixed-ancestry origin. This result implies that the role of CCR2 is important in invasive cancer of the cervix but not in HPV infection or in the development of pre-cancers.</p

Hospital and outpatient clinic utilization among older people in the 3-5 years following the initiation of continuing care: a longitudinal cohort study

Background: Few studies have investigated the subsequent rate of hospital and outpatient clinic utilization in those who receive continuing care and have documented frequent usage over one year. Such knowledge may be helpful in identifying those who would benefit from preventive interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the subsequent rate of hospital and outpatient clinic utilization among older people with 0, 1, 2, 3 or more hospital stays in the first year following the initiation of continuing care. A further aim was to compare these groups regarding demographic data, health complaints, functional and cognitive ability, informal care and mortality. Methods: A total of 1079 people, aged 65 years or older, who received a decision regarding the initiation of continuing care during the years 2001, 2002 or 2003 were investigated. Four groups were created based on whether they had 0, 1, 2 or >= 3 hospital stays in the first year following the initiation of continuing care and were investigated regarding the rate of hospital and outpatient clinic utilization in the subsequent 3-5 years. Results: Fifty seven percent of the sample had no hospital stay during the first year following the initiation of continuing care, 20% had 1 stay, 10% had 2 stays and 13% had three or more hospital stays (range: 3-13). Those with >= 3 hospital stays in the first year continued to have the significantly highest rate of hospital and outpatient care utilization in the subsequent years. This group accounted for 57% of hospital stays in the first year, 27% in the second year and 18% in the third year. In this group the risk of having >= 3 hospital stays in the second year was 27% and 12% in the third year. Conclusions: There is a clear need for interventions targeted on prevention of frequent hospital and outpatient clinic utilization among those who are high users of hospital care in the first year after the initiation of continuing care. Perhaps an increased availability of medically skilled staff in the day to day care of these people in the municipalities could prevent frequent hospital and outpatient clinic utilization, especially hospital readmissions

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente