What Have We Learned in the past 6 Years? Measuring Software Development Technology

Software engineering research is reported. Data acquisition is reported

Coping with loss: cell adaptation to cytoskeleton disruption

Unravelling the role of cytoskeleton regulators may be complicated by adaptations to experimental manipulations. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Cerikan et al. (2016) reveal how acute effects of DOCK6 RhoGEF depletion on RAC1 and CDC42 activation are reversed over time by compensatory mechanisms that re-establish cellular homeostasis

Medicare Gaps and Widow Poverty

Several categories of medical expenditures are not covered by Medicare, including prescription drugs, most nursing home stays, and extended hospital visits. Out-of-pocket costs for these items can be substantial, and what’s more, they are likely to be concentrated at the end of life. At the same time, it is well documented that poverty is 3-4 times more common among widows than among similarly aged married women. This study examines the potential link between these two phenomena, asking the question: to what extent do out-of-pocket health care costs of a dying spouse affect the financial position of the survivor? We find that out-of-pocket medical spending increases substantially just prior to death, and that these expenditures are large relative to income for a large share of elderly couples. Simulations investigate the extent to which expansions in insurance coverage to include nursing home care or prescription drug coverage could improve the financial well-being of the surviving spouse.

Transfer Behavior within the Family: Results from the Asset and Health Dynamics Survey

If an individual falls on hard times, can he rely on his family for financial support? In view of proposed reductions in public assistance programs, it is important to understand the mechanisms through which families provide support for their members. In this paper we provide evidence that intra-family transfers are compensatory, directed disproportionally to less well-off members. These results hold both for the incidence of transfers and for the amounts. Within a given year, adult children in the lowest income category are 6 percentage points more likely to receive a financial transfer from their parents, and on average they receive over $300 more than siblings in the highest income category. The data used in this study, the new Asset and Health Dynamics Survey (AHEAD), contain information on all children in the family. Thus we are able to estimate models which control for unobserved differences across families. Our results are robust to these specifications. Additionally, we do not find evidence that parents provide financial assistance to their children in exchange for caregiving.

Evaluation of management measures of software development. Volume 1: Analysis summary

The conceptual model, the data classification scheme, and the analytic procedures are explained. The analytic results are summarized and specific software measures for collection and monitoring are recommended

The relationship between 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure patterns and urinary albumin excretion in type 2 diabetes and hypertension

Albuminuria is a risk factor for kidney disease progression and cardiovascular events. There are strong links between high blood pressure (BP), diabetes and increased albuminuria. Studies suggest that loss of the normal night time dip in BP (non-dipping) may alter albuminuria and could be a treatment target to slow kidney damage and reduce cardiovascular risk. Damage to a lining of the blood vessels called the glycocalyx is thought to be involved in the development of albuminuria and could further understanding of albuminuria pathophysiology. This thesis aims to further understanding of these closely linked conditions by exploring the relationship between 24-hour blood pressure patterns, albuminuria and glycocalyx integrity in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients and in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The primary aim is to determine whether loss of the normal night time blood pressure dip contributes to urine albumin excretion using an albumin assay which enables quantification of urine albumin in all participants. Twenty-four hour BP, sublingual glycocalyx integrity and urinary albumin data were derived from two studies. Data were acquired prospectively from 34 participants with T2DM within the observational BEAT-DKD study and a retrospective analysis was undertaken on data collected from 54 treatment naïve patients with grade II hypertension within the 18 week interventional DASHER trial (2015-16). The treatment protocol significantly reduced albumin excretion rate (AER) (p=0.0311). There were no observed relationships with night time blood pressure dipping and AER in the hypertensive or T2DM cohort. In the hypertensive cohort, systolic, diastolic and mean arterial BP were associated with AER. In the diabetic cohort there were no correlations with AER and average systolic BP (Rs: 0.2072, p=0.2397) and pulse pressure (Rs: 0.2398, p=0.1719), but strong correlations with night time BP variability in those with moderately increased albuminuria (AER >20µg/min) (Rs: 0.6553, p=0.0032). Glycocalyx integrity showed no relationship with albuminuria or 24-hour blood pressure. In conclusion, loss of normal night time BP dipping showed no relationship with albuminuria. Sublingual glycocalyx integrity showed no relevance to albuminuria or blood pressure. Systolic, diastolic, mean arterial pressure and pulse pressure show the strongest relationship with albuminuria but BP variability may be informative of albuminuria risk in diabetes

Surface crack growth in fiber composites

The results of an experimental study of damage extension and failure in glass and graphite/epoxy laminates containing partially through-thickness surface cracks are presented. The laminates studied are divided between those containing four plies, 90/0/0/90, 15/-15/-15/15, and 45/-45/-45/45, and those containing 12-16 plies of the general configurations 0/90, + or - 45, and 0/+ or - 60. Most of the results are for surface cracks of various lengths and several depths. Stable damage extension in laminates containing surface cracks is predominantly delamination between plies, and tends to be much more extensive prior to failure than is the case with through-thickness cracks, resulting in approximately notch-insensitive behavior in most cases. A greater tendency for notch-sensitive behavior is found for 0/90 graphite/epoxy laminates for which stable damage extension is more limited. The rate of damage extension with increasing applied stress depends upon the composite system and ply configuration as well as the crack length and depth. An approximate semiempirical method is presented for estimating the growth rate of large damage-regions

Configuration Analysis Tool (CAT). System Description and users guide (revision 1)

A system description of, and user's guide for, the Configuration Analysis Tool (CAT) are presented. As a configuration management tool, CAT enhances the control of large software systems by providing a repository for information describing the current status of a project. CAT provides an editing capability to update the information and a reporting capability to present the information. CAT is an interactive program available in versions for the PDP-11/70 and VAX-11/780 computers

Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL). Data base organization and user's guide, revision 1

The structure of the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) data base is described. It defines each data base file in detail and provides information about how to access and use the data for programmers and other users. Several data base reporting programs are described also