A quality assurance reference model for object-orientation

Software quality assurance for object-oriented information systems development is the issue dealt with here. A Quality Assurance Reference Model is proposed based on the Revised Spiral Life Cycle Model. The Quality Assurance Reference Model associates quality criteria, quality factors and metrics into a matrix framework that may be used to achieve quality assurance for all cycles of the Revised Spiral Model

Detection of human pathogenic Fusarium species in hospital and communal sink biofilms by using a highly specific monoclonal antibody

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.The fungus Fusarium is well known as a plant pathogen, but has recently emerged as an opportunistic pathogen of humans. Habitats providing direct human exposure to infectious propagules are largely unknown, but there is growing evidence that plumbing systems are sources of human pathogenic strains in the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) and Fusarium oxysporum species complex (FOSC), the most common groups infecting humans. Here, we use a newly developed Fusarium-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb ED7) to track FSSC and FOSC strains in sink drain biofilms by detecting its target antigen, an extracellular 200kDa carbohydrate, in saline swabs. The antigen was detectable in 52% of swab samples collected from sinks across a University campus and a tertiary care hospital. The mAb was 100% accurate in detecting FSSC, FOSC and F. dimerum species complex (FDSC) strains that were present, as mixed fungal communities, in 83% of sink drain biofilms. Specificity of the ELISA was confirmed by sequencing of the internally transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1)-5.8S-ITS2 rRNA-encoding regions of culturable yeasts and molds that were recovered using mycological culture, while translation elongation factor (TEF)-1α analysis of Fusarium isolates included FSSC 1-a, FOSC 33 and FDSC ET-gr, the most common clinical pathotypes in each group

Neophobia is not only avoidance: Improving neophobia tests by combining cognition and ecology

Psychologists and behavioural ecologists use neophobia tests to measure behaviours ranging from anxiety to predatory wariness. Psychologists typically focus on underlying cognitive mechanisms at the expense of ecological validity, while behavioural ecologists generally examine adaptive function but ignore cognition. However, neophobia is an ecologically relevant fear behaviour that arises through a cognitive assessment of novel stimuli. Both fields have accrued conflicting results using various testing protocols, making it unclear what neophobia tests measure and what correlations between neophobia and other traits mean. Developing cognitively and ecologically informed tests allows neophobia to be empirically evaluated where appropriate and controlled for where it interferes with other behavioural measures. We offer guidelines for designing tests and stress the need for interdisciplinary dialogue to better explore neophobia's proximate causes and ecological consequences.We would like to thank Alecia Carter for helpful discussion and comments on the manuscript and to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor, Dr. Hofmann, for their thoughtful and insightful feedback. A.L.G. received generous support from the Gates-Cambridge Trust; A.T. is funded by a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship (BB/H021817/1).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.10.00

On the development and application of EMMIE: Insights from the What Works Centre for Crime Reduction

The What Works Centre for Crime Reduction was established in September 2013 with the aim of increasing the use of research evidence by decision-makers in policing and crime reduction. The EMMIE framework was developed to meet this aim. It encapsulates five broad categories of research evidence that are considered relevant to crime reduction, namely Effect size, Mechanism, Moderator (or context), Implementation and Economics. In this paper, we chart the origins and development of EMMIE. We also reflect on our experience of applying EMMIE both as a coding system to appraise systematic review evidence and as a framework to inform the design and conduct of systematic reviews in crime reduction. We conclude with a critique of EMMIE and with suggestions on how it might be developed and refined in the future

Il tema del “doppio” nel romanzo di A. Skaldin Stranstvia i priključenija Nikodima Staršego

L’«inspiegabile divisione» (неизъяснимое разделение) psicofisica della personalità sperimentata dal giovane barin Nikodim Michajlovič Ipat’ev, protagonista del romanzo filosofico di Aleksej Skaldin Stranstvija i priključenija Nikodima Staršego [Peregrinazioni e avventure di Nikodim il Vecchio]4, va certamente letta come un tributo dell’ultimo (in ordine cronologico) dei simbolisti russi ad un tema di antica memoria, caro alla mitologia e alla classicità – quello del “doppio” –, che, a partire da Pogorel’skij, passando per Puškin, Odoevskij, Gogol’ e Dostoevskij, aveva imperversato nell’Ottocento russo e, prima ancora, nell’ambiente letterario europeo barocco e romantico, confermandosi nel Novecento, secolo del relativismo e della crisi dell’io, come il tratto distintivo della modernità. Eppure lo sdoppiamento, a detta di Pasolini «la più grande delle invenzioni letterarie», se ricollega Skaldin alla grande tradizione culturale otto-novecentesca, è un Leitmotiv che l’autore desume non da fonti esterne ma dall’intimo della propria esperienza personale. La mia analisi della scissione identitaria del Nikodim skaldiniano si basa appunto sull’ipotesi di una totale o parziale identificazione dello scrittore con il suo personaggio, nella convinzione che solo un accurato esame del substratum autobiografico dell’opera ci possa restituire il significato e la funzione che in essa riveste il topos della destrutturazione e moltiplicazione dell’io

Targeted disruption of melanin biosynthesis genes in the human pathogenic fungus Lomentospora prolificans and its consequences for pathogen survival

PublishedArticleThe dematiaceous (melanised) fungus Lomentospora (Scedosporium) prolificans is a life-threatening opportunistic pathogen of immunocompromised humans, resistant to anti-fungal drugs. Melanin has been shown to protect human pathogenic fungi against antifungal drugs, oxidative killing and environmental stresses. To determine the protective role of melanin in L. prolificans to oxidative killing (H2O2), UV radiation and the polyene anti-fungal drug amphotericin B, targeted gene disruption was used to generate mutants of the pathogen lacking the dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN)-melanin biosynthetic enzymes polyketide synthase (PKS1), tetrahydroxynapthalene reductase (4HNR) and scytalone dehydratase (SCD1). Infectious propagules (spores) of the wild-type strain 3.1 were black/brown, whereas spores of the PKS-deficient mutant ΔLppks1::hph were white. Complementation of the albino mutant ΔLppks1::hph restored the black-brown spore pigmentation, while the 4HNR-deficient mutant ΔLp4hnr::hph and SCD-deficient mutant ΔLpscd1::hph both produced orange-yellow spores. The mutants ΔLppks1::hph and ΔLp4hnr::hph showed significant reductions in spore survival following H2O2 treatment, while spores of ΔLpscd1::hph and the ΔLppks1::hph complemented strain ΔLppks1::hph:PKS showed spore survivals similar to strain 3.1. Spores of the mutants ΔLp4hnr::hph and ΔLpscd1::hph and complemented strain ΔLppks1::hph:PKS showed spore survivals similar to 3.1 following exposure to UV radiation, but survival of ΔLppks1::hph spores was significantly reduced compared to the wild-type strain. Strain 3.1 and mutants ΔLp4hnr::hph and ΔLppks1::hph:PKS were resistant to amphotericin B while, paradoxically, the PKS1- and SCD1-deficient mutants showed significant increases in growth in the presence of the antifungal drug. Taken together, these results show that while melanin plays a protective role in the survival of the pathogen to oxidative killing and UV radiation, melanin does not contribute to its resistance to amphotericin B

Carboxylate Adsorption on Rutile TiO2(100): Role of Coulomb Repulsion, Relaxation, and Steric Hindrance

Understanding the adsorption and photoactivity of acetic acid and trimethyl acetic acid on TiO2 surfaces is important for improving the performance of photocatalysts and dye-sensitized solar cells. Here we present a structural study of adsorption on rutile TiO2(100)-1 × 1 and -1 × 3 using Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy and Density Functional Theory calculations. Exposure of both terminations to acetic acid gives rise to a ×2 periodicity in the [001] direction (i.e., along Ti rows), with a majority ordered c(2 × 2) phase in the case of the 1 × 1 termination. The DFT calculations suggest that the preference of c(2 × 2) over the 2 × 1 periodicity found for TiO2(110)-1 × 1 can be attributed to an increase in interadsorbate Coulomb repulsion. Exposure of TiO2(100)-1 × 1 and -1 × 3 to trimethyl acetic acid gives rise to largely disordered structures due to steric effects, with quasi-order occurring in small areas and near step edges where these effects are reduced

Do nursing and pharmacy students practice what they preach on safe drug storage and disposal? A cross-sectional study

Background: Research has confirmed a lack of knowledge regarding the risks of unused medications including diversion, misuse, or accidental overdose among health care professionals (Abdulmajeed, 2020). Nurses and pharmacists are often who patients interact with the most regarding medications; therefore, early education on proper storage and disposal is vital (Bowen, Rotz, Patterson, & Sen, 2017; Celio, Ninane, Bugnon, & Schneider, 2018). Objectives: The study\u27s objective is to explore safe drug storage and disposal knowledge, attitudes, and practices of professional pharmacy (Pharm.D.) and nursing students. Design: This research is an exploratory cross-sectional study from May to September 2019. Methods: An anonymous online survey was administered to a purposive sample of Pharm.D. and nursing students who were 18 years and older and enrolled in the site\u27s accredited Pharm.D. and nursing programs (N = 210). Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Common disposal methods reported by students of their personal medications such as pills and liquids included discarding medications with the household trash (range 30% to 55%) and medication disposal products/bag (range 19% to 28%). More than half of the participants (50.4%) had unused prescription medication at home, 35% kept the medication for later use, and almost 20% of the participants reported sharing personal medications with others. Conclusion: Although the majority of student participants had adequate knowledge of the appropriate methods for safe drug disposal, few reported using them for their own personal medications. The findings suggest there is a disconnect between the participants\u27 knowledge of the appropriate methods of safe drug storage and disposal in a professional setting and their own practices. Further research is needed to explore and address the reasons for this disconnect. Additionally, findings from this research will assist in the development of and/or the improvement of interdisciplinary educational materials among pharmacy and nursing students