A Survey of Flaky Tests

Tests that fail inconsistently, without changes to the code under test, are described as flaky . Flaky tests do not give a clear indication of the presence of software bugs and thus limit the reliability of the test suites that contain them. A recent survey of software developers found that 59% claimed to deal with flaky tests on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis. As well as being detrimental to developers, flaky tests have also been shown to limit the applicability of useful techniques in software testing research. In general, one can think of flaky tests as being a threat to the validity of any methodology that assumes the outcome of a test only depends on the source code it covers. In this article, we systematically survey the body of literature relevant to flaky test research, amounting to 76 papers. We split our analysis into four parts: addressing the causes of flaky tests, their costs and consequences, detection strategies, and approaches for their mitigation and repair. Our findings and their implications have consequences for how the software-testing community deals with test flakiness, pertinent to practitioners and of interest to those wanting to familiarize themselves with the research area.

Politicization of the Non-politicizable: The Collapse of the Ice Skating Rink in Bad Reichenhall on 2 January 2006

After heavy snowfall, the skating rink of the city of Bad Reichenhall collapsed on 2 January 2006. Fifteen people, twelve children between the age of 7 and 15 and three mothers, were killed by the falling debris of the roof, 34 people were injured. Court trials came to the conclusion that the City of Bad Reichenhall, over a long period of time, had seriously neglected the maintenance of the hall despite clear indication of water ingress and related weak points in the roof structure. The Lord Mayor admitted before court to have purposefully obstructed the decision of the municipal parliament to renovate the hall since he had intended to have the hall dismantled anyway and to build a modern pastime and wellness center instead.

Conflicting Perspectives on Humanitarian Intervention: In Light of the Darfur Crisis

This paper discusses the US and China’s response to the Darfur crisis in order to examine the underlying conflicting perspectives on the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention. The findings show that the US and China characterized the Darfur crisis differently. For the US the level of violence in Darfur was genocide; thus, robust humanitarian intervention was required to stop it. On the other hand, China described the situation as a crisis, but not genocide. Therefore, addressing it requires a peace process rather than humanitarian intervention. This is a clear indication of the conflicting perspectives that exist around the principle of humanitarian intervention. The reason is that national interest rather than humanitarian consideration seems to dictate their response to the Darfur crisis.

Evaluating a Regional Approach to a National Problem: The 'Pacific Plan' and Poverty Reduction in the Kingdom of Tonga

<p>Many national governments today insist that poverty reduction is the central objective of all development initiatives and policies. Increasingly however, poverty reduction initiatives have shifted away from a people-centered approach towards a focus on macroeconomic growth via a neo-liberal agenda, often promoted through regional agreements, in an attempt to meet the development needs of nations. This research seeks to explore the effectiveness of a regional approach to poverty reduction within the Pacific, using the Pacific Plan and the Kingdom of Tonga's 'Strategic Development Plan Eight' (2006/7-2008/9) as a case study, to examine the extent to which regional initiatives meet national goals for poverty reduction and development. As an interpretive study, semistructured interviews, literature analysis and focus groups were utilized in the research process in which the contributions of policy-influencers in Nuku'Alofa, and youth and villagers in Vava'u were sought. This research found that Tonga's national development plan had been heavily influenced by the dominant approach to development as exercised by the Pacific Plan in adopting a neo-liberal framework for development, seeking economic growth via the liberalization of trade and markets. Additionally this research sought to examine the perceptions of living standards in Tonga by those interviewed and the extent to which the government addressed these. What emerged was a clear indication that while the villagers felt they were coping, basic infrastructure was lacking which would aid their ability to go about their daily livelihood activities and to offer further opportunities for livelihood diversification. The overriding theme of 'self-help' seemingly adopted by the citizens and perpetuated by the policy-influencers was a clear indication that the Tongan government saw solutions to the reduction of hardship as lying with the citizens themselves. This also pointed to a possible requirement for the government to utilize their resources towards meeting the restructuring efforts needed in facilitating the regional frameworks and processes of the Pacific Plan as well as adhering to donor requirements rather than in directing these towards much needed social spending. An awareness of Tonga's place in the world as a unique nation, but one experiencing change at a rapid pace, which at times resulted in hardship, was evident. The research also suggests that although a dominant neo-liberal approach is adopted in both the SDP8 and the Pacific Plan, it may not be a best fit to effectively address poverty alleviation and the reduction of hardship for Tonga. Key words: regionalism, Tonga, poverty, Pacific Plan, development.</p>

Evaluating a Regional Approach to a National Problem: The 'Pacific Plan' and Poverty Reduction in the Kingdom of Tonga

<p>Many national governments today insist that poverty reduction is the central objective of all development initiatives and policies. Increasingly however, poverty reduction initiatives have shifted away from a people-centered approach towards a focus on macroeconomic growth via a neo-liberal agenda, often promoted through regional agreements, in an attempt to meet the development needs of nations. This research seeks to explore the effectiveness of a regional approach to poverty reduction within the Pacific, using the Pacific Plan and the Kingdom of Tonga's 'Strategic Development Plan Eight' (2006/7-2008/9) as a case study, to examine the extent to which regional initiatives meet national goals for poverty reduction and development. As an interpretive study, semistructured interviews, literature analysis and focus groups were utilized in the research process in which the contributions of policy-influencers in Nuku'Alofa, and youth and villagers in Vava'u were sought. This research found that Tonga's national development plan had been heavily influenced by the dominant approach to development as exercised by the Pacific Plan in adopting a neo-liberal framework for development, seeking economic growth via the liberalization of trade and markets. Additionally this research sought to examine the perceptions of living standards in Tonga by those interviewed and the extent to which the government addressed these. What emerged was a clear indication that while the villagers felt they were coping, basic infrastructure was lacking which would aid their ability to go about their daily livelihood activities and to offer further opportunities for livelihood diversification. The overriding theme of 'self-help' seemingly adopted by the citizens and perpetuated by the policy-influencers was a clear indication that the Tongan government saw solutions to the reduction of hardship as lying with the citizens themselves. This also pointed to a possible requirement for the government to utilize their resources towards meeting the restructuring efforts needed in facilitating the regional frameworks and processes of the Pacific Plan as well as adhering to donor requirements rather than in directing these towards much needed social spending. An awareness of Tonga's place in the world as a unique nation, but one experiencing change at a rapid pace, which at times resulted in hardship, was evident. The research also suggests that although a dominant neo-liberal approach is adopted in both the SDP8 and the Pacific Plan, it may not be a best fit to effectively address poverty alleviation and the reduction of hardship for Tonga. Key words: regionalism, Tonga, poverty, Pacific Plan, development.</p>

Parasite Survival and Disease Persistence in Cystic Fibrosis, Schistosomiasis and Pathogenic Bacterial Diseases: A Role for Universal Stress Proteins?

Universal stress proteins (USPs) were originally discovered in Escherichia coli over two decades ago and since then their presence has been detected in various organisms that include plants, archaea, metazoans, and bacteria. As their name suggests, they function in a series of various cellular responses in both abiotic and biotic stressful conditions such as oxidative stress, exposure to DNA damaging agents, nutrient starvation, high temperature and acidic stress, among others. Although a highly conserved group of proteins, the molecular and biochemical aspects of their functions are largely evasive. This is concerning, as it was observed that USPs act as essential contributors to the survival/persistence of various infectious pathogens. Their ubiquitous nature in various organisms, as well as their augmentation during conditions of stress, is a clear indication of their direct or indirect importance in providing resilience against such conditions. This paper seeks to clarify what has already been reported in the literature on the proposed mechanism of action of USPs in pathogenic organisms.

A Study on the Acceptance Level of Rack Housing in Malaysia

Rack housing is one type of modular construction system which is flexible and poses a higher degree of mobility. However, the idea of rack housing is relatively new and there is no clear indication of how far is the acceptance of Malaysian citizen to this idea. Therefore, this study aims to identify the acceptance level of Malaysian towards rack housing and also serve as the basic reference for both government and private sector for the adoption fo rack house in Malaysia. In this study, the acceptance level among Malaysian factors of consumer decision to purchase rack housing and also the perspective of Malaysian especially middle income group is determined. A set of questionnaire was made by Google form which contain question about the major factor of acceptance of Malaysian citizen on rack housing with total of 208 questionnaires. The data collected from different group of Malaysian was analyzed by using Average Index (AI). The degree of importance was determined by the rating scales. The result obtained is that the acceptance level to purchase rack housing based on location, comfortability and management factors. From the result, the respondances agree to accept rack housing to implement and construct in Malaysia.

SUPERFLUOUS LITIGATION, IN A WRONG FORUM ABOUT NOTHING: WHEN LAWYERS AND EXPERTS COLLUDE Motswai v RAF 2012 SA (GSJ) Case No: 2010/17220

The case of Motswai v RAF (2012 SA (GSJ) Case No: 2010/17220, not yet reported) is a clear indication of how lawyers and experts should not act in a case against the Road Accident Fund (RAF). From the facts of the case it is clear that there was no need to institute an action, yet the lawyers proceeded and experts even wrote lengthy opinions on a bruised ankle. The only inference the judge drew from this was that the lawyers (and experts) were only concerned about being paid even if it meant being paid from the funds intended to compensate road accident victims. Satchwell J therefore after analysing all the evidence made a cost order that neither the plaintiff’s nor the defendant’s attorneys should receive any fees at all in respect of this claim or litigation. The expenses incurred in respect of “experts” should not be a burden on the public purse and therefore the attorneys should meet these disbursements de bonis propriis. She further stated that counsel should be paid only on a scale of the Magistrate’s Court and it should not include trial fees.