Extending symbolic execution for automated testing of stored procedures

Stored procedures in database management systems are often used to implement complex business logic. Correctness of these procedures is critical for flawless working of the system. However, testing them remains difficult due to many possible database states and constraints on data. This leads to mostly manual testing. Newer tools offer automated execution for unit testing of stored procedures but the test cases are still written manually. We propose an approach of using dynamic symbolic execution for generating automated test cases and corresponding database states for stored procedures. We model the constraints on data imposed by the schema and the SQL statements, treating values in database tables as symbolic. We use SMT solver to find values that will drive the stored procedure on a particular execution path. We instrument the internal execution plans generated by PostgreSQL to extract constraints. We use Z3 to generate test cases consisting of table data and procedure inputs. Our evaluation using stored procedures from a large business application and various GitHub repositories quantifies the evidence of effectiveness of our technique by generating test cases that lead to schema constraint violations and user-defined exceptions.     

Maximizing maize quality,productivity and profitability through a combined use of compost and nitrogen fertilizer in a semi-arid environment in Pakistan

In Pakistan, low crop yields are a common problem of sandy-loam arid and semi-arid agroecosystems. Poor nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and widespread soil nitrogen (N) deficiency resulting from higher N losses are the main reasons for low yields. Compost may offer a nutrient source in this context as it is relatively stable, has a high NUE and crop N uptake, and may contribute to lower N losses in this region. This research conducted during 2011 and 2012, focused on application of N from poultry manure compost (PMC) and pressmud compost (PrMC) with urea in different ratios (0:0, 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, 0:100) for sustainable maize production under the semi-arid conditions of Faisalabad. Overall, combined use of PMC and PrMC with urea in the 2 years increased the grain yield relative to the application of PMC and PrMC on their own. The greatest plant N uptake during the two years from PMC and urea at 25:75 was equivalent to mineral N management (0:100), and it resulted in maximum total grain yield (218.6%) and grain protein (19.8%). This resulted in the lowest N loss from the soil, and the largest NUE (19.1 kg kg^?1). Economically, this treatment also provided the greatest net income (932 US$ ha^?1), and a benefit cost ratio (2.1). Based on these results, PMC and urea at 25:75 was considered highly beneficial in increasing maize yield while reducing the loss of less-stable N from the soil, increasing NUE and N uptake in inherently poor soils. However, further evaluation is needed to decide whether this N nutrition strategy can be adopted on a wider scale.     

Optimal job packing,a backfill scheduling optimization for a cluster of workstations

In this paper, we have proposed two backfill scheduling optimizations, i.e., Shortest Width First Backfill (SWFBF) and Shortest Area First Backfill (SAFBF). A near optimal simple, but effective job packing algorithm called the Select-Replace algorithm has also been presented to minimize external fragmentation. Proof of the concept has been given with the help of a simulation study. Five workloads which were derived from a clean version of the parallel workload archive (CTC, LANL, and SDSC. NASA) have been used to evaluate and compare proposed heuristics with previous techniques. With the simple but effective optimizations, significant (56.1%) performance improvement has been achieved as compared to EASY scheduler.     

Micronutrient Food Supplements in Patients with Gastro-Intestinal and Hepatic Cancers

Colorectal carcinogenesis is the second most common cause of mortality across all types of malignancies, followed by hepatic and stomach cancers. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are key approaches to treating cancer patients, but these carry major concerns, such as a high risk of side effects, poor accessibility, and the non-selective nature of chemotherapeutics. A number of natural products have been identified as countering various forms of cancer with fewer side effects. The potential impact of vitamins and minerals on long-term health, cognition, healthy development, bone formation, and aging has been supported by experimental and epidemiological studies. Successful treatment may thus be highly influenced by the nutritional status of patients. An insufficient diet could lead to detrimental effects on immune status and tolerance to treatment, affecting the ability of chemotherapy to destroy cancerous cells. In recent decades, most cancer patients have been taking vitamins and minerals to improve standard therapy and/or to decrease the undesirable side effects of the treatment together with the underlying disease. On the other hand, taking dietary supplements during cancer therapy may affect the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Thus, micronutrients in complementary oncology must be selected appropriately and should be taken at the right time. Here, the potential impact of micronutrients on gastro-intestinal and hepatic cancers is explored and their molecular targets are laid down.     

Implementation of shooting technique for Buongiorno nanofluid model driven by a continuous permeable surface

The current investigation focuses on the thermal characteristics and heat and mass transfer in the context of their applications. There has been a lot of interest in the utilization of non-Newtonian liquids in various engineering and biological fields. Having such considerable attention on non-Newtonian liquids, the goal is to investigate the flow nature of viscoelastic nanoliquid flow driven by a permeable stretchable surface considering the Buongiorno nanofluid model with suction or injection and mixed convection. This model includes Brownian diffusion, thermophoresis, and radiation effects. The thermal boundary layer theories established the constitutive flow equations, that is, the momentum, diffusion balance, and energy expressions. The established partial differential equations are diminished to dimensionless coupled ordinary differential equations by taking the assistance of proper transformations of nonlinearities. An efficient and validated numerical algorithm is implemented as a computational technique where Mathematica 11.0 environment, a programming tool, is developed for fluid dynamics. The convergence standard had also been recognized for the precision of the relevant parameters by using boundary postulates. The impact of embedded physical quantities of practical interest is examined and offered via the plotted graphs. In addition, the impression of system parameters on drag force, heat, and mass flow coefficient with three-dimensional graphs is also debated.     

Oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene over Fe promoted Co–Mo/Al_2O_3 and Ni–Mo/Al_2O_3 catalysts using hydrogen peroxide and formic acid as oxidants

This work reports the enhancing effect of a highly cost effective and efficient metal, Fe, incorporation to Co or Ni based Mo/Al_2O_3 catalysts in the oxidative desulfurization(ODS) of dibenzothiophene(DBT) using H_2O_2 and formic acid as oxidants. The influence of operating parameters i.e. reaction time, catalyst dose, reaction temperature and oxidant amount on oxidation process was investigated. Results revealed that 99% DBT conversion was achieved at 60 °C and 150 min reaction time over Fe–Ni–Mo/Al_2O_3. Fe tremendously enhanced the ODS activity of Co or Ni based Mo/Al_2O_3 catalysts following the activity order: Fe–Ni–Mo/Al_2O_3 NFe–Co–Mo/Al_2O_3 NNi–Mo/Al_2O_3 NCo–Mo/Al_2O_3, while H_2O_2 exhibited higher oxidation activity than formic acid over all catalyst systems. Insight about the surface morphology and textural properties of fresh and spent catalysts were achieved using scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), energy dispersive X-ray(EDX)analysis, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy(AAS) and BET surface area analysis, which helped in the interpretation of experimental data. The present study can be deemed as an effective approach on industrial level for ODS of fuel oils crediting to its high efficiency, low process/catalyst cost, safety and mild operating condition.     

Localization of Wireless Sensor Networks Using a Single Anchor Node

Localization of nodes in a sensor network is essential for the following two reasons: (i) to know the location of a node reporting the occurrence of an event, and (ii) to initiate a prompt action whenever necessary. Different localization techniques have been proposed in the literature. Most of these techniques use three location aware nodes for localization of an unknown node. Moreover, the localization techniques also differ from environment to environment. In this paper, we proposed a localization technique for grid environment. Sensor nodes are deployed in a grid pattern and localization is achieved using a single location aware or anchor node. We have identified three types of node in the proposed scheme: (i) Anchor node, (ii) Unknown node and (iii) Special node. First, the special nodes are localized with respect to the anchor node, then the unknown nodes are localized using trilateration mechanism. We have compared the proposed scheme with an existing localization algorithm for grid deployment called Multiduolateration. The parameters considered for localization are localization time and localization error. It is observed that localization time and error in the proposed scheme is lower than that of Multiduolateration.     

Viscous and thermal behaviour of vitamin A and iron‐fortified reconstituted rice

The viscous and thermal behaviour of five types of micronutrient‐fortified reconstituted rice premixes extruded at pre‐optimised extrusion conditions (36% moisture content, 150 rpm screw speed and 89 °C barrel temperature) have been investigated using rapid visco analyser (RVA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The highest peak viscosity (1279 cP), lowest gelatinised starch percentage (16.32) and highest enthalpy of gelatinisation (8.2 J g^?1) were recorded in rice premix fortified with retinyl palmitate and micronised ferric pyrophosphate. The scanning electron microscopic analysis (SEM) also revealed that reconstituted rice premix fortified with iron (micronised ferric pyrophosphate) and retinyl palmitate was in closer resemblance to that of natural rice than any other reconstituted rice premix. The work demonstrated that vitamin A‐ and iron‐fortified reconstituted rice with meso/micro structure and pasting behaviour close to that of natural rice can be produced using retinyl palmitate and micronised ferric pyrophosphate as vitamin A and iron source, respectively.     

Posttensioned Anchorage Zone Enhancement with Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

The secondary spiral and skin reinforcement in the anchorage zone of prestressed posttensioned girders causes congestion and poses difficulty in the placement of concrete. It is also labor intensive to produce and place secondary anchorage reinforcement. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of reducing the secondary reinforcement with steel fibers for posttensioned anchor zones. The AASHTO Special Anchorage Device Acceptance Test was performed in this study. Variations of spiral and skin reinforcement, with concrete strengths ranging from 37.9?MPa (5,500?psi)?to?52?MPa (7,500?psi), were utilized to investigate the performance of the two types of steel fibers with various amounts. The experimental results indicated that 1% hooked-end steel fibers could eliminate all secondary reinforcement for a minimum concrete strength of 40.7?MPa (5,900?psi). Lower volumes of steel fibers may also be used to reduce secondary reinforcements.     

Platelet–Neutrophil Association in NETs-Rich Areas in the Retrieved AIS Patient Thrombi

Histological structure of thrombi is a strong determinant of the outcome of vascular recanalization therapy, the only treatment option for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. A total of 21 AIS patients from this study after undergoing non-enhanced CT scan and multimodal MRI were treated with mechanical stent-based and manual aspiration thrombectomy, and thromboembolic retrieved from a cerebral artery. Complementary histopathological and imaging analyses were performed to understand their composition with a specific focus on fibrin, von Willebrand factor, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Though distinct RBC-rich and platelet-rich areas were found, AIS patient thrombi were overwhelmingly platelet-rich, with 90% of thrombi containing <40% total RBC-rich contents (1.5 to 37%). Structurally, RBC-rich areas were simple, consisting of tightly packed RBCs in thin fibrin meshwork with sparsely populated nucleated cells and lacked any substantial von Willebrand factor (VWF). Platelet-rich areas were structurally more complex with thick fibrin meshwork associated with VWF. Plenty of leukocytes populated the platelet-rich areas, particularly in the periphery and border areas between platelet-rich and RBC-rich areas. Platelet-rich areas showed abundant activated neutrophils (myeloperoxidase⁺ and neutrophil-elastase⁺) containing citrullinated histone-decorated DNA. Citrullinated histone-decorated DNA also accumulated extracellularly, pointing to NETosis by the activated neutrophils. Notably, NETs-containing areas showed strong reactivity to VWF, platelets, and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), signifying a close interplay between these components.