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.     

A dynamic model for the efficiency optimization of an oscillatory low grade heat engine

A simple approach is presented for the modeling of complex oscillatory thermal-fluid systems capable of converting low grade heat into useful work. This approach is applied to the NIFTE, a novel low temperature difference heat utilization technology currently under development. Starting from a first-order linear dynamic model of the NIFTE that consists of a network of interconnected spatially lumped components, the effects of various device parameters (geometric and other) on the thermodynamic efficiencies of the device are investigated parametrically. Critical components are highlighted that require careful design for the optimization of the device, namely the feedback valve, the power cylinder, the adiabatic volume and the thermal resistance in the heat exchangers. An efficient NIFTE design would feature a lower feedback valve resistance, with a shorter connection length and larger connection diameter; a smaller diameter but taller power cylinder; a larger (time-mean) combined vapor volume at the top part of the device; as well as improved heat transfer behavior (i.e. reduced thermal resistance) in the hot and cold heat exchanger blocks. These modifications have the potential of increasing the relevant form of the second law efficiency of the device by 50% points, corresponding to a 3.8% point increase in thermal efficiency.     

ION-SELECTIVE POLYMER-SUPPORTED REAGENTS

ABSTRACT

The design and synthesis of polymer-supported reagents that can selectively complex targeted metal ions from multi-component solutions will continue to be an important area of research into the 21^st century. Environmental remediation and sensor technology are only two of a number of areas in which such polymers can be applied. This paper reviews the recent literature with an emphasis on the key ligands that have been immobilized in order to better understand where this research is heading in the near future.     

Modeling study of the effects of overlapping Ca2+ microdomains on neurotransmitter release

Although single-channel Ca2+ microdomains are capable of gating neurotransmitter release in some instances, it is likely that in many cases the microdomains from several open channels overlap to activate vesicle fusion. We describe a mathematical model in which transmitter release is gated by single or overlapping Ca2+ microdomains produced by the opening of nearby Ca2+ channels. This model accounts for the presence of a mobile Ca2+ buffer, provided either that the buffer is unsaturable or that it is saturated near an open channel with Ca2+ binding kinetics that are rapid relative to Ca2+ diffusion. We show that the release time course is unaffected by the location of the channels (at least for distances up to 50 nm), but paired-pulse facilitation is greater when the channels are farther from the release sites. We then develop formulas relating the fractional release following selective or random channel blockage to the cooperative relationship between release and the presynaptic Ca2+ current. These formulas are used with the transmitter release model to study the dependence of this form of cooperativity, which we call Ca2+ current cooperativity, on mobile buffers and on the local geometry of Ca2+ channels. We find that Ca2+ current cooperativity increases with the number of channels per release site, but is considerably less than the number of channels, the theoretical upper bound. In the presence of a saturating mobile buffer the Ca2+ current cooperativity is greater, and it increases more rapidly with the number of channels. Finally, Ca2+ current cooperativity is an increasing function of channel distance, particularly in the presence of saturating mobile buffer.     

High mobility p-channel organic field effect transistors on flexible substrates using a polymer-small molecule blend

Organic field effect transistors have been fabricated on poly(ethylene terephthalate) film substrates with excellent operating characteristics and maximum mobilities of 1.1 cm²/(V s). The semiconductor was a solution processible blend of 6,13-bis(triisopropyl silylethynyl) pentacene and a poly(triaryl amine) used to combine the favourable properties of small molecules and polymers. We have demonstrated that such systems are a good candidate for flexible organic electronics and that the surface energy of the substrate plays a key role in controlling the morphology of the semiconductor film.     

NASWAVE-a program for display of standing waves on networkanalyzers

Vector network analyzers have evolved as the measurement system of choice for microwave industry use. However, network analyzers are not usually covered in undergraduate laboratories, primarily because of cost and reluctance of instructors to move away from slotted line techniques, and the associated visual representation of standing waves. To bridge the gap between these technologies, a computer program has been developed for controlling a network analyzer to display standing waves as visualized on slotted lines for impedance measurements. The program, NASWAVE, provides this visualization of standing waves for instructional purposes so that students actually see the waveforms similar to the response obtained with slotted line measurements, The equations used for computation and display of the standing waves are presented. The software operation and use is discussed and examples are also presented     

Social coordination in toddler's word learning: interacting systems of perception and action

We measured turn-taking in terms of hand and head movements and asked if the global rhythm of the participants' body activity relates to word learning. Six dyads composed of parents and toddlers (M = 18 months) interacted in a tabletop task wearing motion-tracking sensors on their hands and head. Parents were instructed to teach the labels of 10 novel objects and the child was later tested on a name-comprehension task. Using dynamic time warping, we compared the motion data of all body-part pairs, within and between partners. For every dyad, we also computed an overall measure of the quality of the interaction, that takes into consideration the state of interaction when the parent uttered an object label and the overall smoothness of the turn-taking. The overall interaction quality measure was correlated with the total number of words learned.In particular, head movements were inversely related to other partner's hand movements, and the degree of bodily coupling of parent and toddler predicted the words that children learned during the interaction. The implications of joint body dynamics to understanding joint coordination of activity in a social interaction, its scaffolding effect on the child's learning and its use in the development of artificial systems are discussed.     

Auxetic behaviour and anisotropic heterogeneity

To date, microstructural modelling of auxetic materials has relied mainly on the assumption of both a regular and a homogeneous microstructure present throughout the bulk material. The disorder within a material is seen as something undesirable, with the expectation that disorder or heterogeneity will tend to reduce the range of properties available. In this work the presence of short-range variations in the elastic moduli are considered together with the resulting effect on a material’s Poisson’s ratio. It is shown that such variations alone can cause a material with a mean positive Poisson’s ratio to become negative (auxetic). In addition, anisotropic variations can enhance the magnitude of a negative Poisson’s ratio.     

Performance Measurement of Training in Engineering Organizations

This work introduces a new training program performance assessment methodology for engineering organizations that is based upon needs assessment, types of training, and training effectiveness measures. The methodology checks whether predefined objectives of a company are identified through a needs assessment. Effectiveness is judged on whether the types of training and coursework content are formulated to fulfill the needs assessment objectives, whether the coursework is available to the proper employees, whether the courses are attended and understood by the employees, and whether the coursework content is utilized in the work place to meet the needs assessment objectives of the company. A case study of three training programs conducted within a public sector engineering organization is included to demonstrate the methodology and evaluate both the three programs and the methodology effectiveness. Conclusions suggest improvements to future training programs for the public sector engineering organization, as well as describe potential enhancements to the effectiveness measures of the methodology that can be recognized through further study of existing training programs.     

An iterative linearised solution to the sinusoidal parameter estimation problem

Signal processing applications use sinusoidal modelling for speech synthesis, speech coding, and audio coding. Estimation of the model parameters involves non-linear optimisation methods, which can be very costly for real-time applications. We propose a low-complexity iterative method that starts from initial frequency estimates and converges rapidly. We show that for N sinusoids in a frame of length L, the proposed method has a complexity of O(LN), which is significantly less than the matching pursuits method. Furthermore, the proposed method is shown to be more accurate than the matching pursuits and time-frequency reassignment methods in our experiments.