Intelligent retrieval and classification in three-dimensional biomedical images — A systematic mapping

The massive generation of data has raised new research topics, such as methods to store and to retrieve large volumes of information. Some medical image modalities, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging, generate hundreds images series and many research groups have presented studies to develop intelligent techniques to classify and to retrieve this information. However, these studies are dispersed in several databases, and cataloged by using different terms. In this paper we present an analysis of these studies, through a Systematic Mapping that identifies methods and techniques currently being used in this scenario. In addition, we provide a perspective about the type of scientific literature the researchers have been disclosed their studies as well as impact on the scientific literature in dissemination of this knowledge domain. Some challenges and research opportunities are also highlighted in order to propitiate advances in the area.     

Human-Centered Computing: Defining a Research Agenda

Three National Science Foundation (NSF) programs—Human–Computer Interaction, Universal Access, and Digital Society and Technologies—were recently combined into one new cluster called “Human-Centered Computing” (HCC). Two workshops were held to share information about this new cluster with researchers, provide guidance to researchers who are early in their research careers and have yet to receive NSF funding, and provide feedback to NSF from the affected research communities regarding topics that are considered particularly important by this community. Continuing and emerging research opportunities identified included privacy and security issues in HCC context, intelligent user interfaces, universal access including research for different populations such as children and older adults, mobile and ubiquitous computing, and social computing, among others. Various issues concerning interdisciplinary research opportunities were also raised, including understanding the disciplines, promotion and tenure concerns, administrative overhead, and where to publish. Education discussions produced a list of curricular recommendations and a number of opportunities to enhance the education of future HCC practitioners and researchers.     

Using concepts of content‐based image retrieval to implement graphical testing oracles

Automation of testing is an essential requirement to render it viable for software development. Although there are several testing techniques and criteria in many different domains, developing methods to test programs with complex outputs remains an unsolved challenge. This setting includes programs with graphical output, which produce images or interface windows. One possible approach towards automating the testing activity is the use of automatic oracles in which a reference image, taken as correct, can be used to establish a correctness measure in the tested program execution. A method that uses concepts of content‐based image retrieval to facilitate oracle automation in the domain of programs with graphics output is presented. Two case studies, one using a computer‐aided diagnostic system and one using a Web application, are presented, including some reflections and discussions that demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An approach to testing commercial embedded systems

A wide range of commercial consumer devices such as mobile phones and smart televisions rely on embedded systems software to provide their functionality. Testing is one of the most commonly used methods for validating this software, and improved testing approaches could increase these devices’ dependability. In this article we present an approach for performing such testing. Our approach is composed of two techniques. The first technique involves the selection of test data; it utilizes test adequacy criteria that rely on dataflow analysis to distinguish points of interaction between specific layers in embedded systems and between individual software components within those layers, while also tracking interactions between tasks. The second technique involves the observation of failures: it utilizes a family of test oracles that rely on instrumentation to record various aspects of a system's execution behavior, and compare observed behavior to certain intended system properties that can be derived through program analysis. Empirical studies of our approach show that our adequacy criteria can be effective at guiding the creation of test cases that detect faults, and our oracles can help expose faults that cannot easily be found using typical output-based oracles. Moreover, the use of our criteria accentuates the fault-detection effectiveness of our oracles.     

Scaffolding student online discussions using past discussions: PedaBot studies

We are developing instructional tools that will help students and instructors use discussion boards more effectively, with an emphasis on automatically assessing discussion activities and promoting student discussion participation and learning. In this paper, we present a discussion scaffolding tool that exploits natural language processing and information retrieval techniques. The PedaBot tool is designed to aid student knowledge acquisition, promote reflection about course topics and encourage student participation in discussions. It dynamically processes student discussions and presents related discussions and document from a knowledge base of past discussions and course materials. This paper describes the system and presents a comparative analysis of the information retrieval techniques used to respond to free-form student discussions, including a combination of topic profiling, term frequency-inverse document frequency, and latent semantic analysis. Responses are presented as annotated links that students can follow and rate for usefulness. The tool has been integrated into a live discussion board and has been used by an undergraduate computer science course for three semesters. We report current studies of PedaBot from its usages based on student viewings, student ratings, and a small survey. Initial results indicate that there is a high level of student interest in the feature and that its responses are moderately relevant to student discussions. We are exploring more opportunities to exposing the tool to students.     

Automating unit and integration testing with partial oracles

The oracle problem is an essential part in current research on automating software tests. Partial oracles seem to be a viable solution, but their suitability for different testing steps and general applicability for various systems remains still to be shown. This paper presents a study in which partial oracles are applied in order to automatically test a jpeg2000 encoder as an example for a modular software system with several integrated units and components. The effectiveness of the partial oracles is measured by means of mutation analysis to determine their adequacy for both unit and integration testing. Additionally, the paper presents possibilities of improving the effectiveness as well as the efficiency of the employed partial oracles. It shows how the knowledge of certain characteristics of the system to be tested, such as linearity or time-invariance, may lead to a better choice of partial oracles and thus to an improved effectiveness and efficiency.     

坡度坡向量算程序蜕变测试方法

坡度、坡向量算是地理信息系统的主要功能之一。然而,由于截断误差、舍入误差以及误差传播的影响,导致测试判定难以获取。基于此,提出将蜕变测试应用于坡度、坡向量算程序的测试中,通过分析坡度、坡向量算程序功能的几何属性、数值计算特性以及具体实现算法等提出蜕变关系,并通过分析蜕变关系的适用范围,形成坡度坡向量算程序蜕变测试方法。最后,通过实例研究,验证了提出的蜕变关系在消除不同类型变异方面的有效性。实验结果表明,该方法可有效解决坡度、坡向量算程序的测试判定问题,同时也为解决地理信息系统中其他空间度量程序的测试判定问题提供了借鉴,进一步拓展了蜕变测试技术的应用范围。     

Adaptive Random Testing: The ART of test case diversity

Random testing is not only a useful testing technique in itself, but also plays a core role in many other testing methods. Hence, any significant improvement to random testing has an impact throughout the software testing community. Recently, Adaptive Random Testing (ART) was proposed as an effective alternative to random testing. This paper presents a synthesis of the most important research results related to ART. In the course of our research and through further reflection, we have realised how the techniques and concepts of ART can be applied in a much broader context, which we present here. We believe such ideas can be applied in a variety of areas of software testing, and even beyond software testing. Amongst these ideas, we particularly note the fundamental role of diversity in test case selection strategies. We hope this paper serves to provoke further discussions and investigations of these ideas.     

Annotation technologies: A software and research review

This article describes a range of currently available and developing technologies for creating and presenting annotations, glosses, and other comments on digital documents. The potential applications of these tools for providing feedback to student writers, supporting extended group discussions around digital texts, and facilitating research and reading-to-write tasks are discussed. Different software programs are compared and evaluated and composition researchers are urged to engage in research that will influence the design of future annotation technologies.     

Automatic Generation of Test Oracles—From Pilot Studies to Application

We describe a progression from pilot studies to development and use of domain-specific verification and validation (V&V) automation. Our domain is the testing of an AI planning system that forms a key component of an autonomous spacecraft. We used pilot studies to ascertain opportunities for, and suitability of, automating various analyses whose results would contribute to V&V in our domain. These studies culminated in development of an automatic generator of automated test oracles. This was then applied and extended in the course of testing the spacecraft's AI planning system.Richardson et al. (1992, In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Software Engineering, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 105–118), presents motivation for automatic test oracles, and considered the issues and approaches particular to test oracles derived from specifications. Our work, carried through from conception to application, confirms many of their insights. Generalizing from our specific domain, we present some additional insights and recommendations concerning the use of test oracles for V&V of knowledge-based systems.     

An essay on software testing for quality assurance – Editor’s introduction

This volume resulted from a call for papers to “... explore the state of the art of software quality assurance, with particular emphasis on testing to measure quality.” It is my belief that software testing as a discipline is ripe for theoretical breakthroughs. Researchers are considering the right questions, and there are promising new approaches and exciting new results. It seems that new understanding of the testing process can lead to practical tools and techniques that revolutionize software development. I don’t believe that testing will become easier or cheaper; rather, it will be more rational in the sense that expending effort will more dependably lead to better software. In this introductory essay I provide a personal view of testing, testing research, and their roles in software quality assurance.     

Separate computation of alias information for reuse

Interprocedural data flow information is useful for many software testing and analysis techniques, including data flow testing, regression testing, program slicing and impact analysis. For programs with aliases, these testing and analysis techniques can yield invalid results, unless the data flow information accounts for aliasing effects. Recent research provides algorithms for performing interprocedural data flow analysis in the presence of aliases; however, these algorithms are expensive, and achieve precise results only on complete programs. This paper presents an algorithm for performing alias analysis on incomplete programs that lets individual software components such as library routines, subroutines or subsystems be independently analyzed. The paper also presents an algorithm for reusing the results of this separate analysis when the individual software components are linked with calling modules. Our algorithms let us analyze frequently used software components, such as library routines or classes, independently, and reuse the results of that analysis when analyzing calling programs, without incurring the expense of completely reanalyzing each calling program. Our algorithms also provide a way to analyze large systems incrementally     

蜕变测试研究进展及其在并行程序测试中的研究展望

在软件测试过程中,待测程序的预期输出是判断软件是否存在缺陷的重要因素.蜕变测试技术是利用被测软件的属性来检查程序输出,从而有效地解决程序预期输出难以构造的问题.近年来,蜕变测试在软件测试领域取得了蓬勃的发展,许多研究人员将蜕变测试技术进行优化,将其运用到各个领域,有效提高了软件质量.从原理、过程及其优化,应用领域3个方面,总结蜕变测试的研究工作,着重分析了近5年的研究进展,进一步展望了蜕变测试用于并行程序时,可能的研究主题.首先,介绍蜕变测试的基本概念和蜕变测试过程;接着,从蜕变关系、测试用例、测试执行过程以及蜕变测试工具4个角度,总结蜕变测试优化技术;然后,汇总了蜕变测试的应用领域;最后,基于已有研究成果,讨论蜕变测试在并行程序测试领域面临的问题,为蜕变技术在并行程序测试领域的研究提供可能的思路.     

Avoiding,finding and fixing spreadsheet errors – A survey of automated approaches for spreadsheet QA

Spreadsheet programs can be found everywhere in organizations and they are used for a variety of purposes, including financial calculations, planning, data aggregation and decision making tasks. A number of research surveys have however shown that such programs are particularly prone to errors. Some reasons for the error-proneness of spreadsheets are that spreadsheets are developed by end users and that standard software quality assurance processes are mostly not applied. Correspondingly, during the last two decades, researchers have proposed a number of techniques and automated tools aimed at supporting the end user in the development of error-free spreadsheets. In this paper, we provide a review of the research literature and develop a classification of automated spreadsheet quality assurance (QA) approaches, which range from spreadsheet visualization, static analysis and quality reports, over testing and support to model-based spreadsheet development. Based on this review, we outline possible opportunities for future work in the area of automated spreadsheet QA.     

A semantic approach for automated test oracle generation

This paper presents the design, implementation, and applications of a software testing tool, TAO, which allows users to specify and generate test cases and oracles in a declarative way. Extended from its previous grammar-based test generation tool, TAO provides a declarative notation for defining denotational semantics on each productive grammar rule, such that when a test case is generated, its expected semantics will be evaluated automatically as well, serving as its test oracle. TAO further provides a simple tagging mechanism to embed oracles into test cases for bridging the automation between test case generation and software testing. Two practical case studies are used to illustrate how automated oracle generation can be effectively integrated with grammar-based test generation in different testing scenarios: locating fault-inducing input patterns on Java applications; and Selenium-based automated web testing.     

Case studies and generalization in information systems research: A critical realist perspective

The status of case study research as a legitimate scientific method in IS research is often challenged by the view that case findings are not readily generalizable. Positivist and interpretivist perspectives have typically dominated discussions of this important methodological issue. I provide an alternative perspective by presenting a critical realist view of generalizing from case findings. I show that critical realism represents a very different view than either positivism or interpretivism. Critical realism recognizes the role of case study research in empirical generalization, theoretical generalization, and theory testing. In contrast, the role of case study research in empirical generalization and theory testing is either ignored or neglected by interpretivism and positivism. Embracing critical realism would therefore enable researchers to more fully explore the potential for case finding generalization.     

Cloud computing in e-Science: research challenges and opportunities

Service-oriented architecture (SOA), workflow, the Semantic Web, and Grid computing are key enabling information technologies in the development of increasingly sophisticated e-Science infrastructures and application platforms. While the emergence of Cloud computing as a new computing paradigm has provided new directions and opportunities for e-Science infrastructure development, it also presents some challenges. Scientific research is increasingly finding that it is difficult to handle “big data” using traditional data processing techniques. Such challenges demonstrate the need for a comprehensive analysis on using the above-mentioned informatics techniques to develop appropriate e-Science infrastructure and platforms in the context of Cloud computing. This survey paper describes recent research advances in applying informatics techniques to facilitate scientific research particularly from the Cloud computing perspective. Our particular contributions include identifying associated research challenges and opportunities, presenting lessons learned, and describing our future vision for applying Cloud computing to e-Science. We believe our research findings can help indicate the future trend of e-Science, and can inform funding and research directions in how to more appropriately employ computing technologies in scientific research. We point out the open research issues hoping to spark new development and innovation in the e-Science field.     

An automated framework to support testing for process‐level race conditions

Race conditions are difficult to detect because they usually occur only under specific execution interleavings. Numerous program analysis and testing techniques have been proposed to detect race conditions between threads on single applications. However, most of these techniques neglect races that occur at the process level due to complex system event interactions. This article presents a framework, SIMEXPLORER , that allows engineers to effectively test for process‐level race conditions. SIMEXPLORER first uses dynamic analysis techniques to observe system execution, identify program locations of interest, and report faults related to oracles. Next, it uses virtualization to achieve the fine‐grained controllability needed to exercise event interleavings that are likely to expose races. We evaluated the effectiveness of SIMEXPLORER on 24 real‐world applications containing both known and unknown process‐level race conditions. Our results show that SIMEXPLORER is effective at detecting these race conditions, while incurring an overhead that is acceptable given its effectiveness improvements.     

Building test cases and oracles to automate the testing of web database applications

Many organizations rely on web applications that use back-end databases to store important data. Testing such applications requires significant effort. Manual testing alone is often impractical, so testers also rely on automated testing techniques. However, current automated testing techniques may produce false positives (or false negatives) even in a perfectly working system because the outcome of a test case depends on the state of the database which changes over time as data is inserted and deleted. The Automatic Database Tester (AutoDBT) generates functional test cases that account for database updates. AutoDBT takes as input a model of the application and a set of testing criteria. The model consists of a state transition diagram that shows how users navigate pages, a data specification that captures how data flows, and an update specification that shows how the database is updated. AutoDBT generates guard queries to determine whether the database is in a state conducive to performing and evaluating tests. AutoDBT also generates partial oracles to help validate whether a back-end database is updated correctly during testing. This paper describes the design of AutoDBT, a prototype implementation, several experiments with the prototype, and four case studies.