A Historical Perspective on Runtime Assertion Checking in Software Development

This report presents initial results in the area of software testing and analysis produced as part of the Software Engineering Impact Project. The report describes the historical development of runtime assertion checking, including a description of the origins of and significant features associated with assertion checking mechanisms, and initial findings about current industrial use. A future report will provide a more comprehensive assessment of development practice, for which we invite readers of this report to contribute information

Lagrange Anchor for Bargmann-Wigner equations

A Poincare invariant Lagrange anchor is found for the non-Lagrangian relativistic wave equations of Bargmann and Wigner describing free massless fields of spin s > 1/2 in four-dimensional Minkowski space. By making use of this Lagrange anchor, we assign a symmetry to each conservation law.Comment: A contribution to Proceedings of the XXXI Workshop on the Geometric Methods in Physic

APPEARANCE OF NEUTROPHIL-LYMPHOCYTE RATIO ON YOUNG ADULTS AFTER FUTSAL SPORT IN THE NIGHT

Exercise is the easy and cheapest effort that can be did to maintain health level and increase the immune system. The dense activity during the day makes people doing exercise at the night. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a one of indicator that can be use to evaluate the inflammation process caused by exercise. This study aims to determine the appearance of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio on young adult after futsal sport in the night. This research was a quasi experimental with the subjects were 10 young adults for intervention and control respectively that satisfy the inclusion criteria. Measurement of total leukocyte, count type of leukocyte and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio were conducted before and after 2 x 20-minute futsal sport in the night. The data form each group were analysed statistically using the pair t-test. The results showed that there was significant change in the all indicators to intervention group, namely total leukocyte p = 0,01 (p<0,05), neutrophil p = 0,01 (p<0,05), lymphocyte p = 0,01 (p<0,05), and NLR p = 0,01 (p<0,05). The conclusion proved that exercise at the night can cause significant changes of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio on young adult

Level of evidence used in recommendations by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines beyond Food and Drug Administration approvals.

BackgroundA previous analysis of 113 National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recommendations reported that NCCN frequently recommends beyond Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved indications (44 off-label recommendations) and claimed that the evidence for these recommendations was weak.MethodsIn order to determine the strength of the evidence, we carried out an in-depth re-analysis of the 44 off-label recommendations listed in the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®).ResultsOf the 44 off-label recommendations, 14 were later approved by the FDA and/or are supported by randomized controlled trial (RCT) data. In addition, 13 recommendations were either very minor extrapolations from the FDA label (n = 8) or were actually on-label (n = 5). Of the 17 remaining extrapolations, 8 were for mechanism-based agents applied in rare cancers or subsets with few available treatment options (median response rate = 43%), 7 were based on non-RCT data showing significant efficacy (&gt;50% response rates), and 2 were later removed from the NCCN Guidelines because newer therapies with better activity and/or safety became available.ConclusionOff-label drug use is a frequent component of care for patients with cancer in the United States. Our findings indicate that when the NCCN recommends beyond the FDA-approved indications, the strength of the evidence supporting such recommendations is robust, with a significant subset of these drugs later becoming FDA approved or supported by RCT. Recommendations without RCT data are often for mechanism-based drugs with high response rates in rare cancers or subsets without effective therapies

Locomotor adaptability in persons with unilateral transtibial amputation

Background Locomotor adaptation enables walkers to modify strategies when faced with challenging walking conditions. While a variety of neurological injuries can impair locomotor adaptability, the effect of a lower extremity amputation on adaptability is poorly understood. Objective Determine if locomotor adaptability is impaired in persons with unilateral transtibial amputation (TTA). Methods The locomotor adaptability of 10 persons with a TTA and 8 persons without an amputation was tested while walking on a split-belt treadmill with the parallel belts running at the same (tied) or different (split) speeds. In the split condition, participants walked for 15 minutes with the respective belts moving at 0.5 m/s and 1.5 m/s. Temporal spatial symmetry measures were used to evaluate reactive accommodations to the perturbation, and the adaptive/de-adaptive response. Results Persons with TTA and the reference group of persons without amputation both demonstrated highly symmetric walking at baseline. During the split adaptation and tied post-adaptation walking both groups responded with the expected reactive accommodations. Likewise, adaptive and de-adaptive responses were observed. The magnitude and rate of change in the adaptive and de-adaptive responses were similar for persons with TTA and those without an amputation. Furthermore, adaptability was no different based on belt assignment for the prosthetic limb during split adaptation walking. Conclusions Reactive changes and locomotor adaptation in response to a challenging and novel walking condition were similar in persons with TTA to those without an amputation. Results suggest persons with TTA have the capacity to modify locomotor strategies to meet the demands of most walking conditions despite challenges imposed by an amputation and use of a prosthetic limb

Linee guida per la valutazione della resilienza delle foreste Mediterranee ai cambiamenti climatici [Guidelines for assessing the resilience of Mediterranean forests to climate change]

We have defined optimal management models for improving or strengthening the resilience of forest environments: in particular, five best management practices aiming at improving the Mediterranean forests resilience with reference to the desertification risk. The 5 Best ManagementPractices are: BMP1 - Actions favoring mixing of species and hydrogeological stability of forests; BMP2 - Renaturalization of forest plantations; BMP3 - Remedial measures and restoration of degraded forests; BMP4 - Actions aimed at enhancing complex structural forests; BMP5 - Actions favoring connectivity in agro-forestry systems. The best management practices have been then applied adapting them to 16 different intervention types and they have been tested on 10 regional forest categories on an overall surface of 120 hectares. The intervention areas make up a set of testing areas according to the different intervention types carried out. Finally, we have defined the forest resilience Assessment Chart. The Chart has been worked out to improve the sylviculturist\u2019s intervention assessment in order to grant a proper application of the forest resilience intervention practices. This chart includes 10 questions on parameters having an influence on the resilience and on the forest adaptation capacity to climate changes. The parameters are: current and dynamic Forest Category; Specific tree Composition; Vegetation Layers covering; Forest vertical structure; Forest horizontal structure; Dendrometric parameters; Species indicating disturbance; Ground cover; Regeneration; Internal and external steadiness

Vegetation dynamics within afforested coastal areas: regeneration by native species or invasion by alien species?

During the last century, massive reforestation projects along the dunes of the southern Sicily have been carried out. Such interventions, far from being in line with the current trends of close-to-nature silviculture, are, however, particularly interesting to assess the vegetation dynamics in afforestation areas. Furthermore, these kind of interventions may determine two opposite effects, that is renaturalization by native woody species or invasion by alien species. Acacia spp. are among the most widespread and prominent invaders within Mediterranean-climate areas, where they have already shown the capability to deeply change the characters and the functioning of native ecosystems. For instance, Acacia longifolia (Andrews) Willd. may successfully invade the understory of pine forests, causing the alteration of the water balance and carbon storage of the whole forest ecosystem. In Sicily, especially in the last decades, Acacia saligna started to abundantly regenerate in many natural and semi-natural areas, with a stark preference for dune and coastal afforested sites. The nature reserve \u201cFoce del Fiume Platani\u201d represents an excellent case study in this respect

How much noise can be added in cardiac X-ray imaging without loss in perceived image quality?

Dynamic X-ray imaging systems are used for interventional cardiac procedures to treat coronary heart disease. X-ray settings are controlled automatically by specially-designed X-ray dose control mechanisms whose role is to ensure an adequate level of image quality is maintained with an acceptable radiation dose to the patient. Current commonplace dose control designs quantify image quality by performing a simple technical measurement directly from the image. However, the utility of cardiac X-ray images is in their interpretation by a cardiologist during an interventional procedure, rather than in a technical measurement. With the long term goal of devising a clinically-relevant image quality metric for an intelligent dose control system, we aim to investigate the relationship of image noise with clinical professionals’ perception of dynamic image sequences. Computer-generated noise was added, in incremental amounts, to angiograms of five different patients selected to represent the range of adult cardiac patient sizes. A two alternative forced choice staircase experiment was used to determine the amount of noise which can be added to a patient image sequences without changing image quality as perceived by clinical professionals. Twenty-five viewing sessions (five for each patient) were completed by thirteen observers. Results demonstrated scope to increase the noise of cardiac X-ray images by up to 21% ± 8% before it is noticeable by clinical professionals. This indicates a potential for 21% radiation dose reduction since X-ray image noise and radiation dose are directly related; this would be beneficial to both patients and personnel