Mining frequent bug-fix code changes

Detecting bugs as early as possible plays an important role in ensuring software quality before shipping. We argue that mining previous bug fixes can produce good knowledge about why bugs happen and how they are fixed. In this paper, we mine the change history of 717 open source projects to extract bug-fix patterns. We also manually inspect many of the bugs we found to get insights into the contexts and reasons behind those bugs. For instance, we found out that missing null checks and missing initializations are very recurrent and we believe that they can be automatically detected and fixed.

Analysis of iodine-129 in environmental materials: Quality assurance and applications

The long-lived radionuclide 129I (T 1/2 = 15.7 My) occurs in the nature in very low concentrations. Since the middle of our century the environmental levels of 129I have been dramatically changed as a consequence of civil and military use of nuclear fission. Its investigation in environmental materials is of interest for environmental surveillance, retrospective dosimetry and for the use as a natural and man-made fracers of environmental processes. We are comparing two analytical methods which presently are capable of determining 129I in environmental materials, namely radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Emphasis is laid upon the quality control and detection capabilities for the analysis of 129I in environmental materials. Some applications are discussed.

Knowledge-Based Task Structure Planning for an Information Gathering Agent

An effective solution to model and apply planning domain knowledge for deliberation and action in probabilistic, agent-oriented control is presented. Specifically, the addition of a task structure planning component and supporting components to an agent-oriented architecture and agent implementation is described. For agent control in risky or uncertain environments, an approach and method of goal reduction to task plan sets and schedules of action is presented. Additionally, some issues related to component-wise, situation-dependent control of a task planning agent that schedules its tasks separately from planning them are motivated and discussed.

Diagramas de flujo para el diseño de un sistema de control de calidad : proceso de elaboración de vino blanco

Para la implementación de un sistema de control de calidad es necesario tener una clara visión de los procesos involucrados, las responsabilidades, organización, registros de la calidad, acciones preventivas y correctivas. En la actualidad se exige un enfoque integrador, donde se estructuran actividades y recursos físicos. Es por ello que los diagramas de flujo tienen una importancia fundamental en las decisiones de dirección. Entre los distintos diagramas de flujo posibles, en este trabajo se propone utilizar los de procesos que permiten ordenar secuencialmente una serie de actividades y recursos físicos. Se presenta un diagrama de flujo en la elaboración de vino blanco en una bodega experimental. A través de él se puede conocer la lógica del proceso de elaboración, realizar un diagnóstico del proceso, detectar los puntos críticos de control que puedan provocar deterioro en la calidad del producto o del ambiente. También es un punto de partida para armar y poner en funcionamiento un plan de inspección y ensayos, para la documentación necesaria en las auditorías y una técnica para detectar puntos de contaminación ambiental.

Control estadístico de calidad en bibliotecología : Aplicación de gráficos de control en los procesos técnicos

A partir de la aceptación de la biblioteca como parte del ciclo de creación, organización y diseminación del conocimiento cambió el concepto de la misma de una entidad cerrada hacia un sistema dinámico en constante interacción con su entorno. Así se la reconoció como una institución social más que como una colección de documentos. Desde entonces se percibió a la biblioteca como una entidad en la que se podía aplicar los principios de gestión. Desde entonces se utilizaron distintas herramientas de gestión para la toma de decisiones en el ámbito de las bibliotecas. Entre estas herramientas son de gran importancia en el control estadístico de procesos los gráficos de control, utilizados para medir la estabilidad de un proceso a través del tiempo. Han tenido amplia aplicación en el control estadístico de la calidad, comenzando en el ámbito industrial. Hoy su aplicación se ha extendido a una gran variedad de disciplinas incluyen empresas de servicios y unidades administrativas. Aquí se presentan a los gráficos de control como una importante herramienta de gestión aplicada a los procesos técnicos permitiendo su evaluación y el monitoreo de su desempeño a partir de la utilización de indicadores y otros datos de carácter diagnóstico

IBAMar DATABASE: 4 decades of oceanographic sampling on the Western Mediterranean Sea

IBAMar (http://www.ba.ieo.es/ibamar) is a regional database that puts together all physical and biochemical data obtained by multiparametric probes (CTDs equipped with different sensors), during the cruises managed by the Balearic Center of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (COB-IEO). It has been recently extended to include data obtained with classical hydro casts using oceanographic Niskin or Nansen bottles. The result is a database that includes a main core of hydrographic data: temperature (T), salinity (S), dissolved oxygen (DO), fluorescence and turbidity; complemented by bio-chemical data: dissolved inorganic nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, nitrite and silicate) and chlorophyll-a. In IBAMar Database, different technologies and methodologies were used by different teams along the four decades of data sampling in the COB-IEO. Despite of this fact, data have been reprocessed using the same protocols, and a standard QC has been applied to each variable. Therefore it provides a regional database of homogeneous, good quality data. Data acquisition and quality control (QC): 94% of the data are CTDs Sbe911 and Sbe25. S and DO were calibrated on board using water samples, whenever a Rossetta was available (70% of the cases). All CTD data from Seabird CTDs were reviewed and post processed with the software provided by Sea-Bird Electronics. Data were averaged to get 1 dbar vertical resolution. General sampling methodology and pre processing are described in https://ibamardatabase.wordpress.com/home/). Manual QC include visual checks of metadata, duplicate data and outliers. Automatic QC include range check of variables by area (north of Balearic Islands, south of BI and Alboran Sea) and depth (27 standard levels), check for spikes and check for density inversions. Nutrients QC includes a preliminary control and a range check on the observed level of the data to detect outliers around objectively analyzed data fields. A quality flag is assigned as an integer number, depending on the result of the QC check.

Control estadístico de calidad en bibliotecología : Aplicación de gráficos de control en los procesos técnicos

A partir de la aceptación de la biblioteca como parte del ciclo de creación, organización y diseminación del conocimiento cambió el concepto de la misma de una entidad cerrada hacia un sistema dinámico en constante interacción con su entorno. Así se la reconoció como una institución social más que como una colección de documentos. Desde entonces se percibió a la biblioteca como una entidad en la que se podía aplicar los principios de gestión. Desde entonces se utilizaron distintas herramientas de gestión para la toma de decisiones en el ámbito de las bibliotecas. Entre estas herramientas son de gran importancia en el control estadístico de procesos los gráficos de control, utilizados para medir la estabilidad de un proceso a través del tiempo. Han tenido amplia aplicación en el control estadístico de la calidad, comenzando en el ámbito industrial. Hoy su aplicación se ha extendido a una gran variedad de disciplinas incluyen empresas de servicios y unidades administrativas. Aquí se presentan a los gráficos de control como una importante herramienta de gestión aplicada a los procesos técnicos permitiendo su evaluación y el monitoreo de su desempeño a partir de la utilización de indicadores y otros datos de carácter diagnóstico

Control estadístico de calidad en bibliotecología : Aplicación de gráficos de control en los procesos técnicos

A partir de la aceptación de la biblioteca como parte del ciclo de creación, organización y diseminación del conocimiento cambió el concepto de la misma de una entidad cerrada hacia un sistema dinámico en constante interacción con su entorno. Así se la reconoció como una institución social más que como una colección de documentos. Desde entonces se percibió a la biblioteca como una entidad en la que se podía aplicar los principios de gestión. Desde entonces se utilizaron distintas herramientas de gestión para la toma de decisiones en el ámbito de las bibliotecas. Entre estas herramientas son de gran importancia en el control estadístico de procesos los gráficos de control, utilizados para medir la estabilidad de un proceso a través del tiempo. Han tenido amplia aplicación en el control estadístico de la calidad, comenzando en el ámbito industrial. Hoy su aplicación se ha extendido a una gran variedad de disciplinas incluyen empresas de servicios y unidades administrativas. Aquí se presentan a los gráficos de control como una importante herramienta de gestión aplicada a los procesos técnicos permitiendo su evaluación y el monitoreo de su desempeño a partir de la utilización de indicadores y otros datos de carácter diagnóstico

A database of multi-year (2004-2010) quality-assured surface solar hourly irradiation measurements for the Egyptian territory

A database containing the global and diffuse components of the surface solar hourly irradiation measured from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2010 at eight stations of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority is presented. For three of these sites (Cairo, Aswan, and El-Farafra), the direct component is also available. In addition, a series of meteorological variables including surface pressure, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction is provided at the same hourly resolution at all stations. The details of the experimental sites and instruments used for the acquisition are given. Special attention is paid to the quality of the data and the procedure applied to flag suspicious or erroneous measurements is described in details. Between 88 and 99% of the daytime measurements are validated by this quality control. Except at Barrani where the number is lower (13500), between 20000 and 29000 measurements of global and diffuse hourly irradiation are available at all sites for the 7-year period. Similarly, from 9000 to 13000 measurements of direct hourly irradiation values are provided for the three sites where this component is measured. With its high temporal resolution this consistent irradiation and meteorological database constitutes a reliable source to estimate the potential of solar energy in Egypt. It is also adapted to the study of high-frequency atmospheric processes such as the impact of aerosols on atmospheric radiative transfer. In the next future, it is planned to complete regularly the present 2004-2010 database.

Compilation of quality controlled nutrient profiles from the Mediterranean Sea

In the last decades, a striking amount of hydrographic data, covering the most part of Mediterranean basin, have been generated by the efforts made to characterize the oceanography and ecology of the basin. On the other side, the improvement in technologies, and the consequent perfecting of sampling and analytical techniques, provided data even more reliable than in the past. Nutrient data enter fully in this context, but suffer of the fact of having been produced by a large number of uncoordinated research programs and of being often deficient in quality control, with data bases lacking of intercalibration. In this study we present a computational procedure based on robust statistical parameters and on the physical dynamic properties of the Mediterranean sea and its morphological characteristics, to partially overcome the above limits in the existing data sets. Through a data pre filtering based on the outlier analysis, and thanks to the subsequent shape analysis, the procedure identifies the inconsistent data and for each basin area identifies a characteristic set of shapes (vertical profiles). Rejecting all the profiles that do not follow any of the spotted shapes, the procedure identifies all the reliable profiles and allows us to obtain a data set that can be considered more internally consistent than the existing ones.

International Collection of JGOFS (Joint Global Ocean Flux Study), Volume 2: Integrated Data Sets (1989-2003)

The JGOFS International Collection Volume 2: Integrated Data Sets CD is a coherent, organised compilation of existing data sets produced by member countries which participated in JGOFS. In most cases, the data were gathered from the JGOFS International Collection, Volume 1: Discrete Datasets DVD. To produce Vol. 1 data were taken from the original sources and copied "as is" on the DVD. For Vol. 2 data and metadata have been harmonized using the conversion software PanTool and the import routine of PANGAEA checking for completeness of metadata and defining the relations between data and metadata. Prior to the import, data had performed a technical quality control, i.e. format and readability of the file, availability and combination of parameters and units, range of values.

Indian IT software engineers in Japan : a preliminary analysis

In this study, the work and life of Indian IT engineers in Japan engaged in software development were examined through a questionnaire survey. Findings were further supported by comparative analyses with Chinese and Korean software engineers. While Indian IT software engineers appeared rather satisfied with their life overall in Japan, they seemed rather dissatisfied with their work conditions including such things as fringe benefits, the working-time management of the company, levels of salary and bonuses, and promotion opportunities. It was made clear that profiles and perceptions of Indian engineers and those of Chinese and Koreans in Japan were different.

Food safety control system of Chinese eel exports and its challenges

This paper analyzes factors associated with the rejection of products at ports of importer countries and remedial actions taken by producers in China. As an example, it uses one of the most competitive agro-food products of China: live and processed eels. This paper provides an overview of eel production and trade trends in China. In addition, it identifies the causes of port rejection of Chinese eel products as veterinary drug residues by examining the detailed case studies of export firms and the countermeasures taken by the government and firms.

Is there any premium for unobservable quality? : a hedonic price analysis of the Malagasy rice market

This paper examines if consumers pay a premium for unobservable quality in the absence of quality standards and/or quality grading systems and, if so, how they assess that unobservable quality, using a rice retail market in Madagascar as an example. In Madagascar, the lack of quality standards and/or grading systems for rice makes is considered to be one of the causes of the rice market's spatial disintegration. Thus, quality standards and grading systems will be necessary to increase the market's efficiency. We hypothesize that consumers and retailers use product origin and rice name as observable indictors of unobservable quality and test the hypothesis using hedonic price regressions. We find that the interaction terms of product origin and rice name significantly affect the price after controlling for both observable quality and spatial and temporal price variation, but that the contribution of product origin and rice name to rice price variation is smaller than spatial and temporal factors. We thus conclude that consumers pay a premium for unobservable quality throughout Madagascar. This finding implies that quality standards and/or grading systems will work in the Malagasy market and that improving market infrastructure such as roads and storage will make them even more effective.