Interactive Web-based Applications Enforcing Communication and Cooperation in Distributed Teams

In this paper we show the work ongoing at CRS4, on the topic of collaboration tools. We describe DJ-Lab, a plugin for the popular integrated development environment IntelliJ Idea that supports the practice of remote pair programming; XP4IDE, that automates the activity of tracking of XP managed development projects and integrates in the IDE a view of the project tasks; and WebRogue, an application for virtual presence in Web sites, that allows web users to see the other people connected to a web server and communicate and cooperate in various ways. The philosophies of these applications are analyzed to spot analogies and differences, potential evolutions, technical and human limitations, and track a path for future development.17-2

Defining a distributed agile methodology for an open source scenario

In this paper we propose and describe an agile methodology for distributed development (MADD - Methodology for Agile Distributed Development). In particular, it's illustrated a set of best practices to apply in a distributed and agile context, chosen on the base of their impact software quality and team interoperation. Beyond the proposed methodology, we show the results of a survey that we submitted to various contributors of Open Source projects. The survey has been of support to the definition of the MADD, helping to more understand and estimate if, how and how much agile practices and values are already present in the OS world, that today represents one of the most emblematic examples of distributed development. The MADD methodology will be adopted on a software development project at the University of Cagliari (Italy), by a group of students that will work like an Open Source community

DART: the distributed agent based retrieval toolkit

The technology of search engines is evolving from indexing and classification of web resources based on keywords to more sophisticated techniques which take into account the meaning and the context of textual information and usage. Replying to query, commercial search engines face the user requests with a large amount of results, mostly useless or only partially related to the request; the subsequent refinement, operated downloading and examining as much pages as possible and simply ignoring whatever stays behind the first few pages, is left up to the user. Furthermore, architectures based on centralized indexes, allow commercial search engines to control the advertisement of online information, in contrast to P2P architectures that focus the attention on user requirements involving the end user in search engine maintenance and operation. To address such wishes, new search engines should focus on three key aspects: semantics, geo-referencing, collaboration/distribution. Semantic analysis lets to increase the results relevance. The geo-referencing of catalogued resources allows contextualisation based on user position. Collaboration distributes storage, processing, and trust on a world-wide network of nodes running on users’ computers, getting rid of bottlenecks and central points of failures. In this paper, we describe the studies, the concepts and the solutions developed in the DART project to introduce these three key features in a novel search engine architecture

A collaborative, semantic and context-aware search engine

Search engines help people to find information in the largest public knowledge system of the world: the Web. Unfortunately its size makes very complex to discover the right information. The users are faced lots of useless results forcing them to select one by one the most suitable. The new generation of search engines evolve from keyword-based indexing and classification to more sophisticated techniques considering the meaning, the context and the usage of information. We argue about the three key aspects: collaboration, geo-referencing and semantics. Collaboration distributes storage, processing and trust on a world-wide network of nodes running on users’ computers, getting rid of bottlenecks and central points of failures. The geo-referencing of catalogued resources allows contextualisation based on user position. Semantic analysis lets to increase the results relevance. In this paper, we expose the studies, the concepts and the solutions of a research project to introduce these three key features in a novel search engine architecture.213-21

Sentiment analysis and opinion mining

Collana seminari interni 2012, Number 20120919.L'Opinion Mining, o Sentiment Analysis, indica il processo di estrazione di informazioni legate alle opinioni espresse in rete da fruitori di servizi, prodotti ed eventi. Il seminario tratterà le tematiche legate all'Opinion Mining secondo un approccio linguistico. Si parlerà di strutture linguistiche, del loro ruolo nell'interpretazione semantica dei testi e dei diversi campi di applicazione dell'Opinion Mining spaziando dalla "brand reputation" al "voice of consumers", o "opinion monitoring", sino al "real marketing"

Defining a distributed agile methodology for an open source scenario

In this paper we propose and describe an agile methodology for distributed development (MADD - Methodology for Agile Distributed Development). In particular, it's illustrated a set of best practices to apply in a distributed and agile context, chosen on the base of their impact software quality and team interoperation. Beyond the proposed methodology, we show the results of a survey that we submitted to various contributors of Open Source projects. The survey has been of support to the definition of the MADD, helping to more understand and estimate if, how and how much agile practices and values are already present in the OS world, that today represents one of the most emblematic examples of distributed development. The MADD methodology will be adopted on a software development project at the University of Cagliari (Italy), by a group of students that will work like an Open Source community.</p

XPSuite: Tracking and Managing XP projects in the IDE

In this paper we describe XPSuite, a tool comprising two parts: XPSwiki, a tool for managing XP projects and XP4IDE, a plug-in for integrating XPSwiki with the IDE IntelliJ-Idea. The reasons for this integration and the ability of XPSuite to collect process metrics are described. The system has a full object oriented implementation so it is possible to extract all data represented in the model that the system implements.</p

Prophylaxis of peripartum haemorrhage using recombinant factor VIIa (rfVIIa) in pregnant women with congenital factor VII deficiency: A case report and literature review

Congenital factor VII deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder associated to different haemorrhagic manifestations. Labour and delivery may cause bleeding risk in patients with this coagulation deficit, thus it is appropriate to clarify whether prophylaxis of peripartum haemorrhage is necessary. To date, there are very few cases in scientific literature which report the management of women with congenital factor VII deficiency during labour, and a consensus for prophylaxis does not exist. In this manuscript we present the management of a 35 years old woman with factor VII deficiency, treated with recombinant factor VIIa before delivery, without haemorrhagic complications either for the woman and for the infant. Therefore, we present a review of similar cases managed with a peripartum prophylaxis with recombinant factor VIIa, and discuss its usefulness and effectiveness, in view of the severity of the deficit and the doses used

Pain Management During Office Hysteroscopy: A Survey of Hysteroscopists

Outpatient hysteroscopy can be a painful procedure for some patients and there is still no consensus regarding analgesia use. We evaluated which types and modalities of analgesia are most commonly used in a select group of hysteroscopists

A collaborative, semantic and context aware search engine

Search engines help people to find information in the largest public knowledge system of the world: the Web. Unfortunately its size makes very complex to discover the right information. The users are faced lots of useless results forcing them to select one by one the most suitable. The new generation of search engines evolve from keyword-based indexing and classification to more sophisticated techniques considering the meaning, the context and the usage of information. We argue about the three key aspects: collaboration, geo-referencing and semantics. Collaboration distributes storage, processing and trust on a world-wide network of nodes running on users' computers, getting rid of bottlenecks and central points of failures. The geo-referencing of catalogued resources allows contextualisation based on user position. Semantic analysis lets to increase the results relevance. In this paper, we expose the studies, the concepts and the solutions of a research project to introduce these three key features in a novel search engine architecture.</p