Studying the fault-detection effectiveness of GUI test cases for rapidly evolving software

Software is increasingly being developed/maintained by multiple, often geographically distributed developers working concurrently. Consequently, rapid-feedback-based quality assurance mechanisms such as daily builds and smoke regression tests, which help to detect and eliminate defects early during software development and maintenance, have become important. This paper addresses a major weakness of current smoke regression testing techniques, i.e., their inability to automatically (re)test graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Several contributions are made to the area of GUI smoke testing. First, the requirements for GUI smoke testing are identified and a GUI smoke test is formally defined as a specialized sequence of events. Second, a GUI smoke regression testing process called daily automated regression tester (DART) that automates GUI smoke testing is presented. Third, the interplay between several characteristics of GUI smoke test suites including their size, fault detection ability, and test oracles is empirically studied. The results show that: 1) the entire smoke testing process is feasible in terms of execution time, storage space, and manual effort, 2) smoke tests cannot cover certain parts of the application code, 3) having comprehensive test oracles may make up for not having long smoke test cases, and 4) using certain oracles can make up for not having large smoke test suites.     

Formulation and characterisation of a self‐nanoemulsifying drug delivery system of amphotericin B for the treatment of leishmaniasis

This study was aimed to develop a self‐nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) for amphotericin B (AmB) potential use in leishmaniasis through topical and oral routes. Two formulations, formulation A and formulation B (FA and FB) of AmB loaded SNEDDS were developed by mixing their excipients through vortex and sonication. The SNEDDS formulation FA and FB displayed a mean droplet size of 27.70 ± 0.5 and 30.17 ± 0.7 nm and zeta potential −11.4 ± 3.25 and −13.6 ± 2.75 mV, respectively. The mucus permeation study showed that formulation FA and FB diffused 1.45 and 1.37%, respectively in up to 8 mm of mucus. The cell permeation across Caco‐2 cells monolayer was 10 and 11%, respectively. Viability of Caco‐2 cells was 89% for FA and 86.9% for FB. The anti‐leishmanial activities of FA in terms of IC₅₀ were 0.017 µg/ml against promastigotes and 0.025 µg/ml against amastigotes, while IC₅₀ values of FB were 0.031 and 0.056 µg/ml, respectively. FA and FB killed macrophage harboured Leishmania parasites in a dose‐dependent manner and a concentration of 0.1 µg/ml killed 100% of the parasites. These formulations have the potential to provide a promising tool for AmB use through oral and topical routes in leishmaniasis therapy.Inspec keywords: nanomedicine, drops, microorganisms, electrokinetic effects, cellular biophysics, drug delivery systems, monolayers, drugs, diseasesOther keywords: self‐nanoemulsifying drug delivery system, topical routes, oral routes, SNEDDS formulation, mucus permeation study, cell permeation, leishmaniasis treatment, amphotericin B, zeta potential, Caco‐2 cell monolayer, vortex, sonication, droplet size, Caco‐2 cell viability, antileishmanial activity, promastigotes, amastigotes, Leishmania parasites     

Way forward in meeting energy challenges in Pakistan

In this review the energy potential of Pakistan from hydro, coal, wind, solar and nuclear sources has been discussed. The new projects that are being commissioned on coal, wind, solar, hydel and nuclear-based technologies have also been mentioned. The review has also explored the future prospects of the country’s energy requirements. Pakistan has potential to produce 100,000?MW of electricity from Thar coal for 20 years, 56,000?MW of hydroelectricity, 150,000?MW of wind energy and ～50,000?MW from solar sources. The coal-fired power generation is expected to 11,500?MW in period 2017–2019. The country is moving in the right direction to cater its energy needs. However, there is a need to find local and foreign investment in the country to meet high energy demands in the country in future.     

Comparison of chlorination and chloramination practices on microbial inactivation efficiencies within a scaled‐up water distribution network using central composite design

Disinfection practices reduce the incidence of water‐borne diseases but may result in formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in raw water that are reported to be carcinogenic. Central composite design (CCD) was employed in the present study for optimization of disinfectant dose and contact time with the rationale to evaluate if an optimal balance could be achieved between minimal DBPs formation and effective microbial inactivation with either free or combined chlorine in treated water within a lab‐scale prototype network to simulate real water distribution network conditions. After a series of experimental runs based upon design of experiments (DoE) by CCD, dose was found to be the most significant factor (P < 0.01) in determining DBPs formation in both disinfectant’s applications. Where, contact time significantly (P < 0.01) affected bacterial inactivation in chlorination experiments, in contrast, dose was effective in chloramination experiments. Thus, it was concluded that the optimal balance may be achieved in the water networks with the help of multifactorial optimization when disinfectant dose was maintained near 3 mg/L as applied chlorine dose in both disinfection cases, while contact time was 62 and 155 min for chlorine and chloramine, respectively.     

FeGaB (25 nm)/Al2O3/FeGaB(25 nm)多层薄膜结构：氧化铝(Al2O3)厚度变化对静态与动态磁性能的影响

铁镓(FeGa)薄膜与其它软磁材料相比具有较大的磁致伸缩常数,在设计集成磁性传感器芯片中具有独特的优势,本文通过采用非磁性掺杂和多层膜方法来控制这种合金薄膜的磁学与电学性能参数。我们实验发现在掺杂一定量硼(B)元素后,厚度小于30 nm的FeGa薄膜顽力可以得到显著降低,而对于较厚薄膜在插入超薄Al2 O3中间层后软磁性能可以得到同样程度显著改善,同时饱和磁化(Ms)变化可忽略。对于我们制备的FeGaB (25 nm)/Al2O3(0.5 nm)/FeGaB(25 nm)多层膜,其易轴矫顽力可以小到0.98 Oe,电阻率与50nm单层FeGaB膜相比增加了1.5倍,同时具有吉赫兹高磁导率谱。样品微结构分析表明,磁性颗粒结晶质量和物理尺寸的减小对软磁性改善起到重要作用,另外我们也讨论分析了静磁相互作用和表面形貌对磁畴运动及矫顽力的影响。本文发展的掺杂与多层膜混合方案来来增强电磁性能的方法,也可应用于其他类型的软磁材料系统。     

Development of Carbon Nanotube Modified Cement Paste with Microencapsulated Phase-Change Material for Structural–Functional Integrated Application

Microencapsulated phase-change materials (MPCM) can be used to develop a structural–functional integrated cement paste having high heat storage efficiency and suitable mechanical strength. However, the incorporation of MPCM has been found to degrade the mechanical properties of cement based composites. Therefore, in this research, the effect of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the properties of MPCM cement paste was evaluated. Test results showed that the incorporation of CNTs in MPCM cement paste accelerated the cement hydration reaction. SEM micrograph showed that CNTs were tightly attached to the cement hydration products. At the age of 28 days, the percentage increase in flexural and compressive strength with different dosage of CNTs was found to be up to 41% and 5% respectively. The optimum dosage of CNTs incorporated in MPCM cement paste was found to be 0.5 wt %. From the thermal performance test, it was found that the cement paste panels incorporated with different percentages of MPCM reduced the temperature measured at the center of the room by up to 4.6 °C. Inverse relationship was found between maximum temperature measured at the center of the room and the dosage of MPCM.     

Bridge condition modelling and prediction using dynamic Bayesian belief networks

The development of a condition-based deterioration modelling methodology at bridge group level using Bayesian belief network (BBN) is presented in this paper. BBN is an efficient tool to handle complex interdependencies within elements of engineering systems, by means of conditional probabilities specified on a fixed model structure. The advantages and limitations of the BBN for such applications are reviewed by analysing a sample group of masonry bridges on the UK railway infrastructure network. The proposed methodology is then extended to develop a time dependent deterioration model using a dynamic Bayesian network. The condition of elements within the selected sample of bridges and a set of conditional probabilities for static and time dependent variables, based on inspection experience, are used as input to the models to yield, in probabilistic terms, overall condition-based deterioration profiles for bridge groups. Sensitivity towards various input parameters, as well as underlying assumptions, on the point-in-time performance and the deterioration profile of the group are investigated. Together with results from ‘what if’ scenarios, the potential of the developed methodology is demonstrated in relation to the specification of structural health monitoring requirements and the prioritisation of maintenance intervention activities.     

Environmental implications of water efficient microcomponents in residential buildings

The Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) in England sets out various water efficiency targets/levels, which form part of environmental performance criteria against which the sustainability of a building is measured. The code is performance based and requires reduction in per capita water consumption in households. The water efficiency related targets can be met using a range of water efficient microcomponents (WC, showers, kitchen taps, basin taps, dishwashers, washing machines, and baths). However, while the CSH aims at reducing the adverse environmental implications associated with the dwellings by promoting reduction in water consumption, little is known about the energy consumption and the environmental impacts (e. g. carbon emissions) resulting from water efficient end uses. This paper describes a methodology to evaluate the energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with the CSH's water efficiency levels. Key findings are that some 96% and 87% of energy use and carbon emissions, respectively associated with urban water provision are attributable to in-house consumption (principally related to hot water), and that achieving a defined water efficiency target does not automatically save energy or reduce carbon emissions.     

UNICORE 6 — Recent and Future Advancements

UNICORE is a European Grid Technology with more than 10 years of history. Originating from the Supercomputing domain, the latest version UNICORE 6 has turned into a general-purpose Grid technology that follows established standards and offers a rich set of features to its users. The paper starts with an architectural insight into UNICORE 6, highlighting the workflow features, standards and the different clients. Next, the current state of advancement is presented by describing recent developments. The paper closes with an outlook on future planned developments.     

Wheat gluten: high molecular weight glutenin subunits--structure, genetics, and relation to dough elasticity

ABSTRACT:  Gluten proteins, representing the major protein fraction of the starchy endosperm, are predominantly responsible for the unique position of wheat amongst cereals. These form a continuous proteinaceous matrix in the cells of the mature dry grain and form a continuous viscoelastic network during the mixing process of dough development. These viscoelastic properties underline the utilization of wheat to prepare bread and other wheat flour based foodstuffs. One group of gluten proteins is glutenin, which consists of high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) subunits. The HMW glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) are particularly important for determining dough elasticity. The common wheat possesses 3 to 5 HMW subunits encoded at the Glu-1 loci on the long arms of group 1 chromosomes (1A, 1B, and 1D). The presence of certain HMW subunits is positively correlated with good bread-making quality. Glutamine-rich repetitive sequences that comprise the central part of the HMW subunits are actually responsible for the elastic properties due to extensive arrays of interchain hydrogen bonds. Genetic engineering can be used to manipulate the amount and composition of the HMW subunits, leading to either increased dough strength or more drastic changes in gluten structure and properties.