ScAmPER: generating test suites to maximise code coverage in interactive fiction games

We present ScAmPER, a tool that generates test suites that maximise coverage for a class of interactive fiction computer games from the early 1980s. These games customise a base game engine with scripts written in a simple language. The tool uses a heuristic-guided search to evaluate whether these lines of code can in fact be executed during gameplay and, if so, outputs a sequence of game inputs that achieves this. Equivalently, the tool can be seen as attempting to generate a set of test cases that maximises coverage of the scripted code. The tool also generates a visualisation of the search process

Development and psychometric validation of the gum health experience questionnaire

Aim To develop and validate a new health-related quality of life measure to capture a wide range of gum-related impacts. Materials and Methods The measure was developed using a multi-stage approach and a theoretical model. Development involved semi-structured interviews, pilot testing, cross-sectional analysis among a general population (n = 152) to assess psychometric properties and test–retest reliability among a subsample (n = 27). Results Psychometric analysis supports the validity and reliability of the measure's impact scale. The measure has excellent internal reliability (nearly all item-total correlations above .4; Cronbach's alpha between .84 and .91 for subscales), with test–retest reliability also performing well (Intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC] of .91–.97 for subscales). Good content validity (indicated by large standard deviations for item and total scores) and construct validity (correlations of .54–.73 with global gum health rating for subscales, all p < .05) were also observed. Qualitative and quantitative data indicate that people with gum health-related symptoms experience different degrees of discomfort and impacts caused by their condition. Conclusions The gum health experience questionnaire holds substantial promise as a measure of gum-related quality of life in people across the gum health–disease continuum. Further face validity, refining and reducing the number of items and longitudinal studies to test evaluative properties are required before the measure can be used with confidence

The everyday impact of dentine sensitivity: personal and functional aspects

Research into oral health status and the impact of oral conditions on everyday life has been developed over the last 30 years. To date it is not clear the degr ee to which these measures can be applied to the pr oblems and impacts associated with dentine sensitivity. Th ere has been very little research on the everyday i mpact of dentine sensitivity. The aim of this study was t o explore the everyday experiences of dentine sensi tivity; in particular we were interested in the personal and f unctional aspects of living with the condition. Par ticipants were purposively recruited from a general populatio n to secure a range of experiences and views about the everyday impact of dentine sensitivity. Participant s were adults (≥18) currently experiencing dentine sensitiv - ity and were initially recruited using the research team’s contacts and snowball sampling. Data were a nalysed through a framework induced from the data and infor med by the literature on chronic illness, coping, i llness beliefs along with the general literature on the bi opsychosocial impact of oral health. Data analysis focussed on detailing the range of impacts associated with t he condition. Twenty three interviews were conducte d with 15 females and 8 males. The principal impacts on ev eryday life were described as pain, impacts on func tional status and everyday activities such as eating, drin king, talking, tooth brushing and social interactio n in gen - eral. Impacts appeared to be related to a range of individual and environmental inluences. The data in dicate the depth and complexity of the pain experiences as sociated with dentine sensitivity. The length of a partici - pant’s illness career appeared to be related to the ir degree of control over the condition. These indi ngs are compatible with the psychological literature on pai n and conirm that there are signiicant impacts asso ciated with dentine sensitivity in everyday life. Further research into the everyday nature of dentine sensit ive pain would be beneicial

Formal verification of CNL health recommendations

This research is partially supported by EPSRC grant EP/M014290/1.Clinical texts, such as therapy algorithms, are often described in natural language and may include hidden inconsistencies, gaps and potential deadlocks. In this paper, we propose an approach to identify such problems with formal verification. From each sentence in the therapy algorithm we automatically generate a parse tree and derive case frames. From the case frames we construct a state-based representation (in our case a timed automaton) and use a model checker (here UPPAAL) to verify the model. Throughout the paper we use an example of the algorithm for blood glucose lowering therapy in adults with type 2 diabetes to illustrate our approach.Postprin

An Efficient Molecular Dynamics Scheme for the Calculation of Dopant Profiles due to Ion Implantation

We present a highly efficient molecular dynamics scheme for calculating the concentration depth profile of dopants in ion irradiated materials. The scheme incorporates several methods for reducing the computational overhead, plus a rare event algorithm that allows statistically reliable results to be obtained over a range of several orders of magnitude in the dopant concentration. We give examples of using this scheme for calculating concentration profiles of dopants in crystalline silicon. Here we can predict the experimental profile over five orders of magnitude for both channeling and non-channeling implants at energies up to 100s of keV. The scheme has advantages over binary collision approximation (BCA) simulations, in that it does not rely on a large set of empirically fitted parameters. Although our scheme has a greater computational overhead than the BCA, it is far superior in the low ion energy regime, where the BCA scheme becomes invalid.Comment: 17 pages, 21 figures, 2 tables. See: http://bifrost.lanl.gov/~reed

Miniature exoplanet radial velocity array I: design, commissioning, and early photometric results

The MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a US-based observational facility dedicated to the discovery and characterization of exoplanets around a nearby sample of bright stars. MINERVA employs a robotic array of four 0.7 m telescopes outfitted for both high-resolution spec- troscopy and photometry, and is designed for completely autonomous operation. The primary science program is a dedicated radial velocity survey and the secondary science objective is to obtain high precision transit light curves. The modular design of the facility and the flexibility of our hardware allows for both science programs to be pursued simultaneously, while the robotic control software provides a robust and efficient means to carry out nightly observations. In this article, we describe the design of MINERVA including major hardware components, software, and science goals. The telescopes and photometry cameras are characterized at our test facility on the Caltech campus in Pasadena, CA, and their on-sky performance is validated. New observations from our test facility demonstrate sub-mmag photometric precision of one of our radial velocity survey targets, and we present new transit observations and fits of WASP-52b—a known hot-Jupiter with an inflated radius and misaligned orbit. The process of relocating the MINERVA hardware to its final destination at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona has begun, and science operations are expected to commence within 2015

Structural Determinants and Children's Oral Health: A Cross-National Study

Much research on children's oral health has focused on proximal determinants at the expense of distal (upstream) factors. Yet, such upstream factors-the so-called structural determinants of health-play a crucial role. Children's lives, and in turn their health, are shaped by politics, economic forces, and social and public policies. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between children's clinical (number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth) and self-reported oral health (oral health-related quality of life) and 4 key structural determinants (governance, macroeconomic policy, public policy, and social policy) as outlined in the World Health Organization's Commission for Social Determinants of Health framework. Secondary data analyses were carried out using subnational epidemiological samples of 8- to 15-y-olds in 11 countries ( N = 6,648): Australia (372), New Zealand (three samples; 352, 202, 429), Brunei (423), Cambodia (423), Hong Kong (542), Malaysia (439), Thailand (261, 506), United Kingdom (88, 374), Germany (1498), Mexico (335), and Brazil (404). The results indicated that the type of political regime, amount of governance (e.g., rule of law, accountability), gross domestic product per capita, employment ratio, income inequality, type of welfare regime, human development index, government expenditure on health, and out-of-pocket (private) health expenditure by citizens were all associated with children's oral health. The structural determinants accounted for between 5% and 21% of the variance in children's oral health quality-of-life scores. These findings bring attention to the upstream or structural determinants as an understudied area but one that could reap huge rewards for public health dentistry research and the oral health inequalities policy agenda

Chelating water-soluble polymers for waste minimization

Within the DOE complex and in industry there is a tremendous need for advanced metal ion recovery and waste minimization techniques. This project sought to employ capabilities for ligand-design and separations chemistry in which one can develop and evaluate water- soluble chelating polymers for recovering actinides and toxic metals from various process streams. Focus of this work was (1) to develop and select a set of water-soluble polymers suitable for a selected waste stream and (2) demonstrate this technology in 2 areas: removal of (a) actinides and toxic RCRA metals from waste water and (b) recovery of Cu and other precious metals from industrial process streams including from solid catalysts and aqueous waste streams. The R&D was done in 4 phases for each of the 2 target areas: polymer synthesis for scaleup, equipment assembly, process demonstration at a DOE or industrial site, and advanced ligand/polymer synthesis. The TA- 50 site at Los Alamos was thought to be appropriate due to logistics and to its being representative of similar problems throughout the DOE complex