Quality of Web Mashups: A Systematic Mapping Study

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04244-2_8Web mashups are a new generation of applications based on the composition of ready-to-use, heterogeneous components. They are gaining momentum thanks to their lightweight composition approach, which represents a new opportunity for companies to leverage on past investments in SOA, Web services, and public APIs. Although several studies are emerging in order to address mashup development, no systematic mapping studies have been reported on how quality issues are being addressed. This paper reports a systematic mapping study on which and how the quality of Web mashups has been addressed and how the product quality-aware approaches have been defined and validated. The aim of this study is to provide a background in which to appropriately develop future research activities. A total of 38 research papers have been included from an initial set of 187 papers. Our results provided some findings regarding how the most relevant product quality characteristics have been addressed in different artifacts and stages of the development process. They have also been useful to detect some research gaps, such as the need of more controlled experiments and more quality-aware mashup development proposals for other characteristics which being important for the Web domain have been neglected such as Usability and ReliabilityThis work is funded by the MULTIPLE project (TIN2009-13838), the Senescyt program (scholarships 2011), and the Erasmus Mundus Programme of the European Commission under the Transatlantic Partnership for Excellence in Engineering - TEE Project.Cedillo Orellana, IP.; Fernández Martínez, A.; Insfrán Pelozo, CE.; Abrahao Gonzales, SM. (2013). Quality of Web Mashups: A Systematic Mapping Study. En Current Trends in Web Engineering. Springer. 66-78. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04244-2_8S6678Alkhalifa, E.: The Future of Enterprise Mashups. Business Insights. E-Strategies for Resource Management Systems (2009)Beemer, B., Gregg, D.: Mashups: A Literature Review and Classification Framework. Future Internet 1, 59–87 (2009)Cappiello, C., Daniel, F., Matera, M.: A Quality Model for Mashup Components. In: Gaedke, M., Grossniklaus, M., Díaz, O. (eds.) ICWE 2009. LNCS, vol. 5648, pp. 236–250. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)Cappiello, C., Daniel, F., Matera, M., Pautasso, C.: Information Quality in Mashups. IEEE Internet Computing 14(4), 32–40 (2010)Cappiello, C., Matera, M., Picozzi, M., Daniel, F., Fernandez, A.: Quality-Aware Mashup Composition: Issues, Techniques and Tools. In: 8th International Conference on the Quality of Information and Communications Technology (QUATIC 2012), pp. 10–19 (2012)Fenton, N.E., Pfleeger, S.L.: Software Metrics: A Rigorous and Practical Approach, 2nd edn. International Thompson 1996, pp. I–XII, 1–638 (1996) ISBN 978-1-85032-275-7Fernandez, A., Insfran, E., Abrahão, S.: Usability evaluation methods for the web: A systematic mapping study. Information and Software Technology 53(8), 789–817 (2011)Garousi, V., Mesbah, A., Betin-Can, A., Mirshokraie, S.: A systematic mapping study of web application testing. Information and Software Technology 55(8), 1374–1396 (2013)Grammel, L., Storey, M.-A.: A survey of mashup development environments. In: Chignell, M., Cordy, J., Ng, J., Yesha, Y. (eds.) The Smart Internet. LNCS, vol. 6400, pp. 137–151. Springer, Heidelberg (2010)Hoyer, V., Fischer, M.: Market Overview of Enterprise Mashup Tools. In: Bouguettaya, A., Krueger, I., Margaria, T. (eds.) ICSOC 2008. LNCS, vol. 5364, pp. 708–721. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)ISO/IEC: ISO/IEC 25010 Systems and software engineering. Systems and software Quality Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE). System and software quality models (2011)Kitchenham, B., Charters, S.: Guidelines for performing Systematic Literature Reviews in Software Engineering. Version 2.3, ESBE Technical Report, Keele University, UK (2007)Mendes, E.: A systematic review on the Web engineering research. In: International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering (ISESE 2005), pp. 498–507 (2005)OrangeLabs: State of the Art in Mashup tools, SocEDA project, pp. 1–59 (2011)Petersen, K., Feldt, R., Mujtaba, S., Mattsson, M.: Systematic mapping studies in software engineering. In: 12th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE), pp. 68–77 (2008)Raza, M., Hussain, F.K., Chang, E.: A methodology for quality-based mashup of data sources. In: 10th International Conference on Information Integration and Web-based Applications & Services (iiWAS 2008), pp. 528–533 (2008)Saeed, A.: A Quality-based Framework for Leveraging the Process of Mashup Component Selection (2009), https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/21953Sharma, A., Hellmann, T.D., Maurer, F.: Testing of Web Services - A Systematic Mapping. In: 8th World Congress on Services (SERVICES 2012), pp. 346–352 (2012

Antipseudomonal and immunomodulatory properties of esc peptides: Promising features for treatment of chronic infectious diseases and inflammation

Persistent infections, such as those provoked by the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, can induce inflammation with lung tissue damage and progressive alteration of respiratory function. Therefore, compounds having both an-timicrobial and immunomodulatory activities are certainly of great advantage in fighting infectious diseases and chronic inflammation. We recently demonstrated the potent antipseudomonal efficacy of the antimicrobial peptide (AMP) Esc(1-21) and its diastereomer Esc(1-21)-1c, namely Esc peptides. Here, we confirmed this antimicrobial activity by reporting on the peptides’ ability to kill P. aeruginosa once internalized into alveolar epithelial cells. Furthermore, by means of enzyme-linked immunosor-bent assay and Western blot analyses, we investigated the peptides’ ability to detoxify the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by studying their effects on the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 as well as on the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 from macrophages activated by P. aeruginosa LPS. In addition, by a modified scratch assay we showed that both AMPs are able to stimulate the closure of a gap produced in alveolar epithelial cells when cell migration is inhibited by concentrations of Pseudomonas LPS that mimic lung infection conditions, suggesting a peptide-induced airway wound repair. Overall, these results have highlighted the two Esc peptides as valuable candidates for the development of new multifunctional therapeutics for treatment of chronic infectious disease and inflammation, as found in CF patients

Design of a cybernetic hand for perception and action

Strong motivation for developing new prosthetic hand devices is provided by the fact that low functionality and controllability—in addition to poor cosmetic appearance—are the most important reasons why amputees do not regularly use their prosthetic hands. This paper presents the design of the CyberHand, a cybernetic anthropomorphic hand intended to provide amputees with functional hand replacement. Its design was bio-inspired in terms of its modular architecture, its physical appearance, kinematics, sensorization, and actuation, and its multilevel control system. Its underactuated mechanisms allow separate control of each digit as well as thumb–finger opposition and, accordingly, can generate a multitude of grasps. Its sensory system was designed to provide proprioceptive information as well as to emulate fundamental functional properties of human tactile mechanoreceptors of specific importance for grasp-and-hold tasks. The CyberHand control system presumes just a few efferent and afferent channels and was divided in two main layers: a high-level control that interprets the user’s intention (grasp selection and required force level) and can provide pertinent sensory feedback and a low-level control responsible for actuating specific grasps and applying the desired total force by taking advantage of the intelligent mechanics. The grasps made available by the high-level controller include those fundamental for activities of daily living: cylindrical, spherical, tridigital (tripod), and lateral grasps. The modular and flexible design of the CyberHand makes it suitable for incremental development of sensorization, interfacing, and control strategies and, as such, it will be a useful tool not only for clinical research but also for addressing neuroscientific hypotheses regarding sensorimotor control

Conormal distributions in the Shubin calculus of pseudodifferential operators

We characterize the Schwartz kernels of pseudodifferential operators of Shubin type by means of an FBI transform. Based on this we introduce as a generalization a new class of tempered distributions called Shubin conormal distributions. We study their transformation behavior, normal forms and microlocal properties.Comment: 23 page

Purification and characterization of recombinant human renin for X-ray crystallization studies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAS) cascade is a major target for the clinical management of hypertension. Although inhibitors of various components of this cascade have been developed successfully, development of renin inhibitors has proven to be problematic. The development of these inhibitors has been hindered by poor bioavailability and complex synthesis. However, despite the challenges of designing renin inhibitors, the enzyme remains a promising target for the development of novel treatments for hypertension. X-ray crystallographic data could greatly assist the design and development of these inhibitors. Here we describe the purification and characterization of recombinant human renin for x-ray crystallization studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A cDNA encoding the full length of native human preprorenin (406 amino acid residues) was introduced into the HEK-293 cell line. A clonal cell line expressing prorenin was generated and grown under serum free conditions in a hollow fiber bioreactor. Prorenin was constitutively secreted and purified directly from the conditioned medium. Concanavalin A chromatography effectively enriched and purified prorenin to 90% homogeneity in a single step. Prorenin was converted to active renin by trypsin digestion to remove the propeptide. Active renin was further purified using a cation exchange column followed by a gel filtration column. Biochemical characterization of the recombinant enzyme showed both binding and catalytic properties were essentially identical to previously reported activities for purified renin. Crystals were grown using this material in our X-ray structure studies, and high resolution diffraction was obtained.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This present work describes a simple and efficient method for the generation and purification of active human renin. The protein is highly pure and is suitable for supporting structural biology efforts.</p

SHEBA operating experience

The Solution High Energy Burst Assembly (SHEBA) is a critical assembly fueled with a solution of 5% enriched Uranyl Fluoride, U(5%)O{sub 2}F{sub 2}. The fuel is stored in critically safe storage containers and then pumped into the ``Critical Assembly Vessel`` where the solution becomes critical. The system was designed to achieve criticality in a cylindrically symmetric configuration. The SHEBA facility also incorporates a shielding pit into which the entire assembly can be lowered to provide shielding for elevated power runs. The major goals of the SHEBA assembly project are to study the behavior of nuclear excursions in a low-enrichment solution, to evaluate accidental criticality alarm detectors for fuel-processing facilities, to provide radiation spectra and dose measurements to benchmark calculations on a low-enrichment solution system, and to provide radiation fields to calibrate personnel dosimetry. SHEBA is also being used to provide a neutron flux test bed to benchmark calculations. Rather than providing the details of these particular projects, this paper summarizes the free-run operating experience obtained as a result of the projects

The antimicrobial peptide temporin G: Anti-biofilm, anti-persister activities, and potentiator effect of tobramycin efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus

Bacterial biofilms are a serious threat for human health, and the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is one of the microorganisms that can easily switch from a planktonic to a sessile lifestyle, providing protection from a large variety of adverse environmental conditions. Dormant non-dividing cells with low metabolic activity, named persisters, are tolerant to antibiotic treatment and are the principal cause of recalcitrant and resistant infections, including skin infections. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) hold promise as new anti-infective agents to treat such infections. Here for the first time, we investigated the activity of the frog-skin AMP temporin G (TG) against preformed S. aureus biofilm including persisters, as well as its efficacy in combination with tobramycin, in inhibiting S. aureus growth. TG was found to provoke ~50 to 100% reduction of biofilm viability in the concentration range from 12.5 to 100 µM vs ATCC and clinical isolates and to be active against persister cells (about 70–80% killing at 50–100 µM). Notably, sub-inhibitory concentrations of TG in combination with tobramycin were able to significantly reduce S. aureus growth, potentiating the antibiotic power. No critical cytotoxicity was detected when TG was tested in vitro up to 100 µM against human keratinocytes, confirming its safety profile for the development of a new potential anti-infective drug, especially for treatment of bacterial skin infections

Frog skin-derived peptides against corynebacterium jeikeium: correlation between antibacterial and cytotoxic activities

Corynebacterium jeikeium is a commensal bacterium that colonizes human skin, and it is part of the normal bacterial flora. In non-risk subjects, it can be the cause of bad body smell due to the generation of volatile odorous metabolites, especially in the wet parts of the body that this bacterium often colonizes (i.e., groin and axillary regions). Importantly, in the last few decades, there have been increasing cases of serious infections provoked by this bacterium, especially in immunocompromised or hospitalized patients who have undergone installation of prostheses or catheters. The ease in developing resistance to commonly-used antibiotics (i.e., glycopeptides) has made the search for new antimicrobial compounds of clinical importance. Here, for the first time, we characterize the antimicrobial activity of some selected frog skin-derived antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) against C. jeikeium by determining their minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC) by a microdilution method. The results highlight esculentin-1b(1-18) [Esc(1-18)] and esculentin-1a(1-21) [Esc(1-21)] as the most active AMPs with MIC and MBC of 4–8 and 0.125–0.25 µM, respectively, along with a non-toxic profile after a short-and long-term (40 min and 24 h) treatment of mammalian cells. Overall, these findings indicate the high potentiality of Esc(1-18) and Esc(1-21) as (i) alternative antimicrobials against C. jeikeium infections and/or as (ii) additives in cosmetic products (creams, deodorants) to reduce the production of bad body odor

The Gabor wave front set of compactly supported distributions

We show that the Gabor wave front set of a compactly supported distribution equals zero times the projection on the second variable of the classical wave front set