Automated Software Debugging Using Hybrid Static/Dynamic Analysis

With the increasing complexity of today's software, the software development process is becoming highly time and resource consuming. The increasing number of software configurations, input parameters, usage scenarios, supporting platforms, external dependencies, and versions plays an important role in expanding the costs of maintaining and repairing unforeseeable software faults. To repair software faults, developers spend considerable time in identifying the scenarios leading to those faults and root-causing the problems. While software debugging remains largely manual, it is not the case with software testing and verification. The goal of this research is to improve the software development process in general, and software debugging process in particular, by devising techniques and methods for automated software debugging, which leverage the advances in automatic test case generation and replay. In this research, novel algorithms are devised to discover faulty execution paths in programs by utilizing already existing software test cases, which can be either automatically or manually generated. The execution traces, or alternatively, the sequence covers of the failing test cases are extracted. Afterwards, commonalities between these test case sequence covers are extracted, processed, analyzed, and then presented to the developers in the form of subsequences that may be causing the fault. The hypothesis is that code sequences that are shared between a number of faulty test cases for the same reason resemble the faulty execution path, and hence, the search space for the faulty execution path can be narrowed down by using a large number of test cases. To achieve this goal, an efficient algorithm is implemented for finding common subsequences among a set of code sequence covers. Optimization techniques are devised to generate shorter and more logical sequence covers, and to select subsequences with high likelihood of containing the root cause among the set of all possible common subsequences. A hybrid static/dynamic analysis approach is designed to trace back the common subsequences from the end to the root cause. A debugging tool is created to enable developers to use the approach, and integrate it with an existing Integrated Development Environment. The tool is also integrated with the environment's program editors so that developers can benefit from both the tool suggestions, and their source code counterparts. Finally, a comparison between the developed approach and the state-of-the-art techniques shows that developers need only to inspect a small number of lines in order to find the root cause of the fault. Furthermore, experimental evaluation shows that the algorithm optimizations lead to better results in terms of both the algorithm running time and the output subsequence length.

Reforço sísmico de estruturas em adobe

A construção em alvenaria de adobe tem um vasto património a nível mundial. É possível encontrar construção em terra no nosso território, sendo que a técnica particular do adobe foi amplamente utilizada na região de Aveiro durante o século XIX até meados do século XX. Devido à tradição e valor patrimonial da construção em alvenaria de adobe, diversos trabalhos têm vindo a ser desenvolvidos no departamento de Engenharia Civil da Universidade de Aveiro, perspetivando um aprofundar de conhecimentos acerca deste tipo de construção. A vulnerabilidade sísmica das construções em alvenaria de adobe fez com que surgissem vários estudos para caracterização sísmica das mesmas, sendo que, recentemente, foi levada a cabo a realização de um ensaio cíclico, simulando os efeitos de um sismo, num modelo de adobe à escala real, construído no laboratório do departamento de Engenharia Civil da Universidade de Aveiro. A presente dissertação tem como objetivo estudar formas de reparação e reforço sísmico de estruturas em adobe. Para isso foi reparado e reforçado o modelo previamente ensaiado, e novamente submetido a um ensaio cíclico, de modo a fazer-se uma análise comparativa com o ensaio prévio e assim retirar conclusões sobre a eficácia da solução de reforço aplicada.

Unmasking of the trigemino-accessory reflex in accessory facial anastomosis

To evaluate the possible blink reflex responses in facial muscles reinnervated by the accessory nerve. Method: Eleven patients with a complete facial palsy were submitted to a surgical repair by an accessory facial nerve anastomosis (AFA). In this pathological group, blink reflex was studied by means of percutaneous electrical stimulation of the supraorbital nerve and recording from the orbicularis oculi muscle. A control group comprised seven normal people and seven patients with a complete Bell's facial palsy; in this group, responses on the sternocleidomastoideus (SCM) muscles were studied after supraorbital nerve stimulation. Results: All the patients with AFA showed a consistent degree of facial reinnervation. Ten out of the 11 patients with AFA showed reflex responses; in six, responses were configured by a double component pattern, resembling the R1 and R2 components of the blink reflex; three patients had an R1-like response and one patient showed a unique R2 component. Mean values of latencies were 15.2 (SD 4.6) ms for the R1 and 85.3 (SD 9.6) ms for the R2. In the control group, eight out of 14 people had evidence of reflex responses in the SCM muscles; these were almost exclusively configured by a bilateral late component (mean latency 63.5 (SD 15.9) ms) and only one of the subjects showed an early response at 11 ms. Conclusion: The trigemino-accessory reflex response in the pathological group was more complex and of a significantly higher incidence than in the control group. These differences could be tentatively explained by a mechanism of synaptic plasticity induced by the impairment of the efferent portion of the reflex. This could unmask the central linking between the trigeminal and the accessory limbs of the reflex. The findings described could be a demonstration of neurobionomic function in the repairing process of the nervous system.

Construcción de espacios de comunicación y memoria histórica de las víctimas del conflicto colombiano en el municipio de Bojayá. Una mirada a través de las expresiones musicales (2002-2014)

En Bojayá, Colombia, la música ha posibilitado la visualización, reparación y construcción de memoria histórica de las víctimas de la masacre de 2002 aprovechando dos elementos: La comunicación y el arte. La comunicación, el acceso a mecanismos informativos y de participación son elementos sobre los cuales se basa las estructuras democráticas contemporáneas; mientras que las expresiones artísticas se configuran como herramientas que posibilitan el acceso de la ciudadanía al escenario político. En un escenario con posibilidades limitadas, el arte aparece como una alternativa en un contexto donde las herramientas institucionales han resultado insuficientes. A partir del análisis de las expresiones musicales de los sobrevivientes y el uso de planteamientos de Jürgen Habermas, Juan Rueda, Elizabeth Jelin, entre otros, se analizan los procesos comunicativos de la música que dan lugar a la creación de memoria histórica.

Las reparaciones simbólicas en escenarios de justicia transicional

Resumen Cuando una sociedad intenta hacer una transición de situaciones de conflicto armado a paz o de regímenes dictatoriales a democracias, debe tomar decisiones políticas que garanticen los estándares internacionales en materia de derechos de las víctimas de violaciones a derechos humanos, pero que permitan pactos entre las partes implicadas. En este contexto el derecho a la reparación es el centro de álgidos debates. Por eso, en este artículo se propone visibilizar las reparaciones simbólicas como parte de la reparación integral y como importante mecanismo para que las sociedades en transición logren superar los hechos victimizantes sin olvidarlos y para que estos no se repitan; entonces, los simbolismos reparadores buscarán nombrar y dignificar a las víctimas, recordar la verdad y solicitar perdón asumiendo responsabilidades. Abstract When a society tries to make the transition from armed conflict to peace, or dictatorships to democracies, political decisions must be taken to ensure international standards concerning the rights of victims of human rights violations, but allowing agreements between the parts involved. In this context, the right to reparation is the peak center of discussions.So, this article proposes to visualize the symbolic reparations as part of the internal reparation and as an important mechanism so that societies in transition can overcome the victimizing facts without forgetting them, and in order to stop them too. Then, the repairing symbolism would seek to appoint and dignify the victims, to remember the truth, taking responsibilities, and asking for forgiveness.