Constructing a t-way interaction test suite using the Particle Swarm Optimization approach

This paper presents the design and implementation of a new t-way test generation strategy, known as the Particle Swarm Test Generator (PSTG). Complementing the existing work on t-way testing strategies, PSTG serves as our research vehicle to investigate the applicability of Particle Swarm Optimization for t-way test data generation. The experimental results demonstrate that PSTG is capable of outperforming some of the existing strategies as far as the test size is concerned. Additionally, the evaluation also indicates the effectiveness of PSTG in generating an efficient test suite for testing consideration.

Teaching organisational theory in undergraduate management programmes: an exercise in facilitated theory testing for active experimentation

This paper argues that there is an opportunity to improve the way that social science theory is taught by introducing an exercise in facilitated theory testing through active experimentation. This paper describes a learning experience that enables students to discover the dynamic nature of theoretical discoveries. This idea is grounded in the notion that students will gain much from learning about and testing theory experientially using real world data. A data based exercise is outlined and illustrated to reveal a learning experience that provides an opportunity to improve the way social science is taught by linking theory to empirical data. We argue that this provides an opportunity to offer a more holistic learning experience for theory teaching. The paper will be of special interest to those teaching theory in management, commerce, business and organisational studies courses. It will also be of interest to a more general audience because it provides a framework that can be modified whenever forging a connection between theory and 'the real world' is a primary learning objective.

Knowledge, attitudes and experience associated with testing for prostate cancer: a comparison between male doctors and men in the community

Background: Debate about testing for prostate cancer using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and digital rectal examination (DRE) continues. The evidence of benefit from screening for prostate cancer using PSA tests is inconclusive, and it is unclear how PSA can be used most effectively in the detection of prostate cancer. Given the lack of consensus, it is important that consumers understand the issues in a way that will permit them to decide whether or not to have a test and, if symptomatic, how their condition is managed.

Aims: To compare prostate cancer knowledge, attitudes and testing experiences reported by male doctors and men in the community, despite the lack of evidence of a benefit.

Methods : The primary method for ascertaining the attitudes of male doctors (MD) was a telephone survey, with some doctors electing to complete a written survey. Each MD was selected, at random, from a register of male practitioners aged ≥ 49 years of age. A total of 266 MD participated in the survey. The community sample (CS) was accessed using a telephone survey. Five hundred male Victorian residents aged ≥ 49 years of age participated in the study.

Results:
Knowledge − Overall, 55% of the CS indicated ­correctly that prostate disease is sometimes cancer, compared to 83% of MD.

Attitudes − Fifty-five per cent of MD believed men should be tested for prostate disease at least every 2 years, compared to 68% of men in the CS.

Testing experience − Forty-five per cent of MD had been tested for prostate cancer in the past, and 92% of those tests were reported as negative. In the CS, 56% had been tested for prostate cancer in the past, and 78% of the results were reported as negative. The ­significant independent predictors of having had a prostate test among MD were: (i) age (≥ 60 years; odds ratio (OR): 1.59; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.30−1.88) and (ii) positive attitudes towards regular testing for prostate cancer (OR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.98−2.56). The significant independent predictors for the CS were: (i) age (≥ 60 years; OR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.40−1.89), (ii) being married (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.00−1.60), (iii) knowledge that prostate disease was sometimes cancer (OR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.26−1.66) and (iv) positive attitudes towards regular testing for prostate cancer (OR: 2.12; 95% CI: 1.90−2.34).

Conclusions: The results highlight that testing for prostate cancer is widespread in the community and in the medical profession. Further research should be undertaken to identify how to help men make fully informed decisions about prostate cancer testing.

Robust correctness testing for digital forensic tools

In previous work, the authors presented a theoretical lower bound on the required number of testing runs for performance testing of digital forensic tools. We also demonstrated a practical method of testing showing how to tolerate both measurement and random errors in order to achieve results close to this bound. In this paper, we extend the previous work to the situation of correctness testing. The contribution of this methodology enables the tester to achieve correctness testing results of high quality from a manageable number of observations and in a dynamic but controllable way. This is of particular interest to forensic testers who do not have access to sophisticated equipment and who can allocate only a small amount of time to testing.

Robust performance testing for digital forensic tools

In previous work, the authors presented a theoretical lower bound on the required number of testing runs for performance testing of digital forensic tools. However, experimental errors are inevitable in laboratory settings, occurring as measurement errors or as random errors and can result in practical situations where the number of testing runs is far from the theoretical bound. This paper adapts our former work to tolerate such errors in the testing results. The contribution of our new methodology enables the tester to achieve performance testing results of high quality from a manageable number of observations and in a dynamic but controllable way. This is of particular interest to forensic testers who do not have access to sophisticated equipment and who can allocate only a small amount of time to testing.

Cardiovascular disease self-management: pilot testing of an mHealth healthy eating program

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is crucial in the management of cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet attendance is poor. Mobile technology (mHealth) offers a potential solution to increase reach of CR. This paper presents two development studies to determine mobile phone usage in adults with CVD and to evaluate the acceptability of an mHealth healthy eating CR program. Methods: CR attendees were surveyed to determine mobile phone usage rates. A second single-subject pilot study investigated perceptions of a 4-week theory-based healthy eating mHealth program and explored pre-post changes in self-efficacy. Results: 74 adults with CVD completed the survey (50/74 male; mean age 63 ± 10). Nearly all had mobile phones (70/74; 95%) and used the Internet (69/74; 93%), and most were interested in receiving CR by text message (57/74; 77%). 20 participants took part in the healthy eating pilot study. Participants read all/most of the text messages, and most (19/20) thought using mobile technology was a good way to deliver the program. The website was not widely used as visiting the website was reported to be time consuming. Exploratory t-tests revealed an increase in heart healthy eating self-efficacy post program, in particular the environmental self-efficacy subset (Mean = 0.62, SD = 0.74, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Text messaging was seen as a simple and acceptable way to deliver nutrition information and behavior change strategies; however, future research is needed to determine the effectiveness of such programs.

Selective, spontaneous one-way oil-transport fabrics and their novel use for gauging liquid surface tension

Thin porous materials that can spontaneously transport oil fluids just in a single direction have great potential for making energy-saving functional membranes. However, there is little data for the preparation and functionalities of this smart material. Here, we report a novel method to prepare one-way oil-transport fabrics and their application in detecting liquid surface tension. This functional fabric was prepared by a two-step coating process to apply flowerlike ZnO nanorods, fluorinated decyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes, and hydrolyzed fluorinated alkylsilane on a fabric substrate. Upon one-sided UV irradiation, the coated fabric shows a one-way transport feature that allows oil fluid transport automatically from the unirradiated side to the UV-irradiated surface, but it stops fluid transport in the opposite direction. The fabric still maintains high superhydrophobicity after UV treatment. The one-way fluid transport takes place only for the oil fluids with a specific surface tension value, and the fluid selectivity is dependent on the UV treatment time. Changing the UV irradiation time from 6 to 30 h broadened the one-way transport for fluids with surface tension from around 22.3 mN/m to a range of 22.3-56.7 mN/m. We further proved that this selective one-way oil transport can be used to estimate the surface tension of a liquid simply by observing its transport feature on a series of fabrics with different one-way oil-transport selectivities. To our knowledge, this is the first example to use one-way fluid-transport materials for testing the liquid surface tension. It may open up further theoretical studies and the development of novel fluid sensors.

Developing a primary care patient measure of safety (PC PMOS): a modified Delphi process and face validity testing

BACKGROUND: Patients are a valuable source of information about ways to prevent harm in primary care and are in a unique position to provide feedback about the factors that contribute to safety incidents. Unlike in the hospital setting, there are currently no tools that allow the systematic capture of this information from patients. The aim of this study was to develop a quantitative primary care patient measure of safety (PC PMOS). METHODS: A two-stage approach was undertaken to develop questionnaire domains and items. Stage 1 involved a modified Delphi process. An expert panel reached consensus on domains and items based on three sources of information (validated hospital PMOS, previous research conducted by our study team and literature on threats to patient safety). Stage 2 involved testing the face validity of the questionnaire developed during stage 1 with patients and primary care staff using the 'think aloud' method. Following this process, the questionnaire was revised accordingly. RESULTS: The PC PMOS was received positively by both patients and staff during face validity testing. Barriers to completion included the length, relevance and clarity of questions. The final PC PMOS consisted of 50 items across 15 domains. The contributory factors to safety incidents centred on communication, access to care, patient-related factors, organisation and care planning, task performance and information flow. DISCUSSION: This is the first tool specifically designed for primary care settings, which allows patients to provide feedback about factors contributing to potential safety incidents. The PC PMOS provides a way for primary care organisations to learn about safety from the patient perspective and make service improvements with the aim of reducing harm in this setting. Future research will explore the reliability and construct validity of the PC PMOS.

Tow testing of Savonius wind turbine above a bluff body complemented by CFD simulation

A simple way to improve its power coefficient (cp) of a Savonius turbine is by its installation above a cuboidal building as the building will redirect the wind and increase its speed significantly. To determinethe gain, a turbine was constructed and installed above a bluff body and tow tested. Detailed measurements of vehicle speed and turbine power were made. Tow test speeds were 8, 10 and 12 m/s, while TSR range was 0.6-1.1. Most importantly, wind speed at the position beside and slightly above the turbine was measured during test runs. The cp calculated using this measured wind speed was used to validate CFD simulation results. Simulation results were also used to obtain the relationships between the wind speed of the free stream and at the anemometer position. Typically, wind speed at the anemometer position is about 9% higher than those of the free stream. These relationships were used to derive the free stream wind speed of each experimental run. The cp calculated using these derived free stream wind speeds showed an increase of 25% at 12 m/s wind speed, compared to the cp reported by previous researchers for a similar turbine operating in unmodified air flow.

Testing for predictability in panels with general predictors

The difficulty of predicting returns has recently motivated researchers to start looking for tests that are either more powerful or robust to more features of the data. Unfortunately, the way that these tests work typically involves trading robustness for power or vice versa. The current paper takes this as its starting point to develop a new panel-based approach to predictability that is both robust and powerful. Specifically, while the panel route to increased power is not new, the way in which the cross-section variation is exploited also to achieve robustness with respect to the predictor is. The result is two new tests that enable asymptotically standard normal and chi-squared inference across a wide range of empirically relevant scenarios in which the predictor may be stationary, moderately non-stationary, nearly non-stationary, or indeed unit root non-stationary. The type of cross-section dependence that can be permitted in the predictor is also very general, and can be weak or strong, although we do require that the cross-section dependence in the regression errors is of the strong form. What is more, this generality comes at no cost in terms of complicated test construction. The new tests are therefore very user-friendly.