Test suite oscillations

This paper proposes a set of new software test-diversity measures based on control oscillations of test suites. Oscillation Diversity uses conversion, inversion, and phase transformation to vary test suite amplitudes, frequencies, and phases. Resistance and inductance are defined as measures of diversification difficulty. The experimental results show correlation between some Oscillation Diversity measures and fault-detection effectiveness.     

Algorithm for tissue ischemia estimation based on electrical impedance spectroscopy

The purpose of this paper is to present an algorithm developed for real-time estimation of skeletal muscle ischemia, based on parameters extracted from in vivo obtained electrical impedance spectra. A custom impedance spectrometer was used to acquire data sets: complex impedance spectra measured at 27 frequencies in the range of 100 Hz-1 MHz, and tissue pH. Twenty-nine in vivo animal studies on rabbit anterior tibialis muscle were performed to gather data on the behavior of tissue impedance during ischemia. An artificial neural network (ANN) was used to quantitatively describe the relationship between the parameters of complex tissue impedance spectra and tissue ischemia via pH. The ANN was trained on 1249, and tested on 946 ischemic tissue impedance data sets. A correlation of 94.5% and a standard deviation of 0.15 pH units was achieved between the ANN estimated pH and measured tissue pH values.     

Contact formation dynamics: Mapping chemical bond formation between a molecule and a metallic probe

We present a study that maps out chemical bond formation between a Pt-inked probe and a single 1,3-cyclohexadiene (1,3-CHD) molecule on Si(100). By separating the mechanical and electronic contributions to the current during the approach to contact, we show that there are significant forces between the probe and the C=C of the molecule and we track the relaxation of the molecule, the emergence of a chemical bond feature in the LDOS, and the quenching of specific molecular vibrations during bond formation.     

Self-assembled multicompartment liquid crystalline lipid carriers for protein, peptide, and nucleic acid drug delivery

Lipids and lipopolymers self-assembled into biocompatible nano- and mesostructured functional materials offer many potential applications in medicine and diagnostics. In this Account, we demonstrate how high-resolution structural investigations of bicontinuous cubic templates made from lyotropic thermosensitive liquid-crystalline (LC) materials have initiated the development of innovative lipidopolymeric self-assembled nanocarriers. Such structures have tunable nanochannel sizes, morphologies, and hierarchical inner organizations and provide potential vehicles for the predictable loading and release of therapeutic proteins, peptides, or nucleic acids. This Account shows that structural studies of swelling of bicontinuous cubic lipid/water phases are essential for overcoming the nanoscale constraints for encapsulation of large therapeutic molecules in multicompartment lipid carriers. For the systems described here, we have employed time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and high-resolution freeze-fracture electronic microscopy (FF-EM) to study the morphology and the dynamic topological transitions of these nanostructured multicomponent amphiphilic assemblies. Quasi-elastic light scattering and circular dichroism spectroscopy can provide additional information at the nanoscale about the behavior of lipid/protein self-assemblies under conditions that approximate physiological hydration. We wanted to generalize these findings to control the stability and the hydration of the water nanochannels in liquid-crystalline lipid nanovehicles and confine therapeutic biomolecules within these structures. Therefore we analyzed the influence of amphiphilic and soluble additives (e.g. poly(ethylene glycol)monooleate (MO-PEG), octyl glucoside (OG), proteins) on the nanochannels' size in a diamond (D)-type bicontinuous cubic phase of the lipid glycerol monooleate (MO). At body temperature, we can stabilize long-living swollen states, corresponding to a diamond cubic phase with large water channels. Time-resolved X-ray diffraction (XRD) scans allowed us to detect metastable intermediate and coexisting structures and monitor the temperature-induced phase sequences of mixed systems containing glycerol monooleate, a soluble protein macromolecule, and an interfacial curvature modulating agent. These observed states correspond to the stages of the growth of the nanofluidic channel network. With the application of a thermal stimulus, the system becomes progressively more ordered into a double-diamond cubic lattice formed by a bicontinuous lipid membrane. High-resolution freeze-fracture electronic microscopy indicates that nanodomains are induced by the inclusion of proteins into nanopockets of the supramolecular cubosomic assemblies. These results contribute to the understanding of the structure and dynamics of functionalized self-assembled lipid nanosystems during stimuli-triggered LC phase transformations.     

Practical ultra‐reliability for abstract data types

The Term Redundancy Method (TRM) is a novel approach for obtaining ultra‐reliable programs through specification‐based testing. Current specification‐based testing schemes need a prohibitively large number of test cases for estimating ultra‐reliability. They assume the availability of an accurate program‐usage distribution prior to testing, and they assume the availability of a test oracle. This paper shows how to obtain ultra‐reliable abstract data types specified with equational specifications, with a practical number of test cases, without an accurate usage distribution, and without the usual test oracle. The effectiveness of the TRM in failure detection and recovery is demonstrated on the aircraft collision avoidance system TCAS. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GPS telemetry of energetic-technical and technological parameters at open pit mines

Application of GPS in mining and geology has proved to be of ever increasing importance since recently. GPS is used for positioning both researching and exploitation drill holes, mining facilities, equipment, machines, when monitoring slopes and falls, mining facilities dimensioning, navigation of machines, roads tracing, etc. The paper presents a pilot system for surveillance and monitoring of energetic and technological parameters at open pit mines, developed at the “Jazovnik” open pit mine for experimental purposes. __________ Translated from Fiziko-Tekhnicheskie Problemy Razrabotki Poleznykh Iskopaemykh, No. 4, pp. 90–94, July–August, 2008.