Temporal behavior of defect detection performance in design documents

Die Qualität der Software ist natürlich ein erfolgskritischer Faktor im Software Engineering (SE), genauso wie die Design Dokumente in den frühen Softwareentwicklungsphasen. Organisatorische Faktoren, wie etwa der verwendete Software-Entwicklungsprozess, helfen den Prozeß an sich besser zu Strukturieren und zu Optimieren. Entwicklungsansätze unterstützen diesen Prozeß, während analytische Ansätze darauf abzielen Fehler und Produktabweichungen zu vermeiden. Software Inspektionen (SI) und Tests sind bereits bekannte und anerkannte Techniken im SE um Fehler im Software Code, in Spezifikationen oder Design Dokumenten, während verschiedenster Phasen des Produktlebenszykluses, zu identifizieren. Ein Hauptaugenmerk von analytischen Qualitätssicherungen wie SI und Tests liegt auf der frühen Entdeckung von Fehlern. Denn je später ein Fehler im Produktentwicklungsprozess gefunden wird, desto aufwendiger und teurer ist dessen Entfernung. SI fokussieren auf eine Fehlerfindung in einer sehr frühen Phase des gesamten Prozesses ohne die Notwendigkeit eines Ausführbaren Software Codes. Deshalb ist SI anwendbar auf geschriebene Text Doku-ment wie Design Dokumente. Traditionelle Testansätze fokussieren auf die Erstellung von Testfällen und deren Exekution in späteren Phasen des Prozesses, weil sie im Gegensatz zu SI auf ausführbaren Code angewiesen sind. Folgernd ist es notwendig Testfallerstellung und SI zu kombinieren, um in noch frühen Phasen die Qualität weiter verbessern zu können. Die Vorteile beider Ansätze zu vereinen wird helfen um (a) Fehler sehr früh zu finden und (b) Testfälle zu definieren, welche ein systematisches Testen erlauben, daß wiederum auf Anfor-derungen und Use-Cases basiert. Der Ansatz in dieser These - auf Inspektionen basiertes Tes-ten – wird zu einer „Zuerst Testen“ Strategie auf Anforderungsbasis führen Diese These konzentriert sich auf einen auf Inspektionen basierten Test Ansatz, sowie auf SI generell mit einer genaueren Untersuchung des zeitlichen Verhaltens dieser Techniken in Design Dokumenten mit Hauptaugenmerk auf sehr kritische und kritische Fehler. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen des zeitlichen Verhaltens ergaben, daß UBR in dem Zeit-intervall der ersten 120 Minuten äußerst effektiv und effizient agiert. UBT-i hingegen benötigt mehr Zeit, ca. 44 % um ein gleichwertiges Ergebnis erzielen zu können. Der Vergleich der bei-den Software Fehlerfindungstechniken zeigte weiters, daß UBR ganzheitlich gesehen nicht die überlegene Technik ist. Wegen der inkonsistenten Resultate der Experiment Sessions kann jedoch auch keine überlegene Technik definitiv genannt werden. Betreffend den Ergebnissen der False Positives, konnte das erwartete zeitliche Verhalten, daß die wenigsten False Positi-ves in den ersten 120 Minuten gefunden werden, nicht beobachtet werden. Deshalb mußte die betreffende Hypothese verworfen werden. Die These basiert auf einem Experiment, welches in einer kontrollierten akademischen Umge-bung durchgeführt wurde um die Fehlerfindungseffizienz Einzelner zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse werden Projekt- und Qualitätsmanagern helfen, um deren Qualitätsmaßnahmen besser planen zu können und es weiters ermöglichen deren zeitliche Dauer und daraus folgende Effizienz und Effektivität besser abschätzen zu können.The quality of software requirements and design documents are success critical issues in soft-ware engineering (SE) practice. Organizational measures, e.g., software processes, help struc-turing the development process along the project life-cycle, constructive approaches support building software products, and analytical approaches aim at investigating deliverables with respect to defects and product deviations. Software inspection and testing are well-known and common techniques in Software Engineering to identify defects in code documents, specifica-tions, and requirements documents in various phases of the project life-cycle. A major goal of analytical quality assurance activities, e.g., inspection and testing, is the detection of defects as early as possible because rework effort and cost increase, if defects are identified late in the project. Software inspection (SI) focuses on defect detection in early phases of software development without the need for executable software code. Thus, SI is applicable to written text documents, e.g., specification and requirements documents. Traditional testing approaches focus on test case definition and execution in later phases of development because testing requires executable code. Thus, we see the need to combine test case generation and software inspection early in the software project to increase software product quality and test cases. Bundling benefits from early defect detection (SI application) and early test case definition based on SI results can help identifying (a) defects early and (b) derive test cases definitions for systematic testing based on requirements and use cases. Our approach – inspection-based testing – leads to a test-first strategy on requirements level. This thesis focuses on the investigation of an inspection-based testing approach and software inspection with respect to the temporal behavior of defect detection with emphasis on critical defects in requirements and specification documents. The outcomes concerning the temporal behavior showed up some interesting results. UBR performs in the time interval of the first 120 minutes very effective and efficient. UBT-i in con-trary needs more time, about 44 % for its testing duration to achieve as good defect detection results as UBR. The comparison of these two software fault detection techniques showed that UBR is on the whole not the superior technique. Because of the inconsistent findings in the experiment sessions a clear favorite cannot be named. Concerning the results for the fault positives the expected temporal behavior, which was that the fewest false positives were found in the first 120 minutes, could not be investigated and the hypothesis on this had to be rejected. A controlled experiment in an academic environment was made to investigate defect detection performance and the temporal behavior of defect detection for individuals in a business IT software solution. The results can help project and quality managers to better plan analytical quality assurance activities, i.e., inspection and test case generation, with respect to the temporal behavior of both defect detection approaches

Photoinduced Decarboxylation of N-Acyloxyphthalimides

This PhD thesis demonstrates new applications for photoinduced decarboxylation of N-acyloxyphthalimides. The first chapter, “Decarboxylation of ω-aryl-N-acyloxyphthalimides”, discusses the decarboxylation of phthalimide activated amino acid derivatives via visible light irradiation. Performing the reaction of N-acyloxyphthalimides 77 in presence of photocatalyst [Ir(ppy)2(dtb-bpy)]PF6 and a solvent mixture MeCN/H2O give rise to β-phenylethylamine derivatives. Initiated by energy transfer of the catalyst, an intramolecular electron transfer from the phenyl group to the phthalimide moiety enables the decarboxylation and a Smiles-type rearrangement occurs. Reaction conditions were optimized and a set of β phenylethylamine derivatives were synthesized to evaluate the scope of the reaction. A slight change in the reaction conditions – substitution of H2O on alcohol in the solvent mixture – allows the isolation of carbamate of corresponding β-phenylethylamines. The carbamates were efficiently synthesized using primary, secondary and even tertiary alcohols. Interestingly increasing the electron density in the phenyl moiety via introduction of two or three methoxy groups led to the exclusive formation of dihydroisoquinolinones in very good yields. A further substrate scope extension via the elongation of the alkyl carbon chain afforded tetrahydrobenzazepinones in good yields. In this reaction no rearrangement was observed, the primary alkyl radical rather undergoes a 7-exo/endo-trig cyclization after decarboxylation instead of the 6-exo spirocyclization of N-acyloxyphthalimides. The developed visible light mediated transformation of ω-aryl-N-acyloxyphthalimides were applied for the preparation of both key intermediates, used in the convergent synthesis of the bronchodilator capsazepinoid. Another application of this decarboxylative rearrangement reaction was demonstrated with the synthesis of Boc-protected unnatural phenylalanine derivatives starting from commercially available L-aspartic acid and substituted benzaldehydes. As the mechanism of these decarboxylations is based on energy transfer, hence a feasible dual decarboxylation method via UV-light irradiation was investigated in the second chapter, “UV light-mediated reactions of phthalimides”. Excited N-acyloxyphthalimides were reduced by phenylacetic acids, which leads to a simultaneous decarboxylation of both substrates. In a subsequent crosscoupling reaction dihydrostilbenes were isolated in fair to very good yields. In the third chapter, a “Decarboxylative hydroxylation/alkoxylation” was investigated. Performing the sensitized decarboxylation reaction of N-acyloxyphthalimides using visible light and the photocatalyst [Ir(ppy)2(dtb-bpy)]PF6, instead of UV irradiation, benzyl alcohols (R3 = H) were obtained as major products in good yields. Using alcohol instead of water in the solvent mixture gave rise to corresponding benzyl ethers (R3 = Alk). Applying this reaction to other phthalimide-coupled aliphatic acids, via visible light-induced photoredox chemistry, was not successful. Consequently the reaction scope of this decarboxylative hydroxylation/alkoxylation was limited to phenylacetic acid derivatives. In Chapter four, “Photoredox catalyzed decarboxylative α-amination”, two well established photochemical reactions were combined into a dual visible light-promoted system of decarboxylation and α-amino activation. With this strategy the bifunctional property of the photoredox catalyst could be efficiently utilized. Tetrahydroisoquinoline serves as an electron donor for the photocatalyst to enable the reduction and subsequent decarboxylation of N-acyloxyphthalimide. The corresponding α-amino and alkyl radicals, which were derived from the same catalytic cycle, can then react in a cross coupling process. Although being limited to phenylacetic-, vinylacetic-, and amino acids so far, the examples demonstrate the feasibility of this meaningful process, which allows the efficient synthesis of benzylation, allylation, and α-amino derivative products

Sergej Rudol'fovic Minclov

Sergej Rudol’fovič Minclov (1870 – 1933). Dieses Thema reiht sich in den Kreis der russischen Exilliteratur ein. Ein durch die politischen Ereignisse in Russland beinahe in Vergessenheit geratener Schriftsteller, dessen Werke auch im Ausland heute nur Wenigen bekannt sind. Seine bekanntesten Werke ließen sich jedoch vor allem in den Fachbibliotheken für Slawistik in der Schweiz und in Deutschland auffinden. Besonders das Werk „Za mёrtvymi dušami“ vermittelt dem Leser einen Eindruck davon, was für ein Mensch Sergej R. Minclov war. Die Aufzeichnungen in „Dalёkie dni: Erinnerungen aus den 1870 – 90er Jahren erlauben einen Einblick in seine Kinder – u. Jugendjahre. Selbst schwierigste Lebensumstände, auch nicht die Emigration konnten Sergej R. Minclov daran hindern, an den Sinn seines Bestrebens zu glauben und seinem Forscherdrang nachzugeben. Er legte seine ganze Schaffenskraft in den Erhalt der vom Verschwinden bedrohten russischen und ausländischen Literaturen und wertvoller Kunstgegenstände, die auf den ehemaligen Gutshöfen angesammelt worden waren. Er war ein Mensch, der zu Lebzeiten gefühlt hatte, dass Menschen nachfolgender Generationen Interesse an seinem Wirken haben werden. Diese Zeit des neuerlichen Interesses hat mit der politischen Wende in Russland 1991 offensichtlich begonnen und der Wunsch Sergej R. Minclov’s scheint sich langsam zu erfüllen. Man kann davon ausgehen, dass es bald einen Leserkreis geben wird, der sich an den historischen Romanen, den Tagebuchaufzeichnungen, an den Reiseberichten oder Abenteuerromanen erfreuen wird

High-Velocity Impacts of Pyrophoric Alloy Fragments on Thin Armour Steel Plates

The terminal ballistics effects of Intermetallic Reactive Materials (IRM) fragments have been the object of intense research in recent years. IRM fragments flying at velocities up to 2000 m/s represent a realistic threat in modern warfare scenarios as these materials are substituting conventional solutions in defense applications. The IRM add Impact Induced Energy Release (IIER) to the mechanical interaction with a target. Therefore, the necessity of investigations on IIER to quantify potential threats to existing protection systems. In this study, Mixed Rare Earths (MRE) fragments were used due to the mechanical and pyrophoric affinity with IRM, the commercial availability and cost-effectiveness. High-Velocity Impacts (HVI) of MRE were performed at velocities ranging from 800 to 1600 m/s and recorded using a high-speed camera. 70 MREs cylindrical fragments and 24 steel fragments were shot on armour steel plates with thicknesses ranging from 2 mm to 3 mm. The influence of the impact pitch angle (α) on HVI outcomes was assessed, defining a threshold value at α of 20°. The influence of the failure modes of MRE and steel fragments on the critical impact velocities (CIV) and critical kinetic energy (Ekin crit) was evaluated. An energy-based model was developed and fitted with sufficient accuracy the Normalised EKin crit (E˜kincrit) determined from the experiments. IIER was observed in all the experiments involving MRE. From the analyses, it was observed that the IIER spreads behind the targets with velocities comparable to the residual velocities of plugs and shattered fragment.Peer reviewe

Clofarabine and high-dose cytosine arabinoside in the treatment of refractory or relapsed acute myeloid leukaemia

Clofarabine (40 mg/m2/day × 5) and high-dose cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C, 1–2 g/m2/day × 5) were used in 10 men and 11 women, at a median age of 45 (22–62) years, with refractory (N = 4) and relapsed (N = 17) acute myeloid leukaemia, after a median of 3 (2–5) prior regimens. Grade 4 myelosuppression was observed in all cases, with two patients dying of bacterial sepsis. Nine patients achieved a complete remission. Disease status, number of prior therapies, and cytogenetic aberrations were not associated with the outcome. However, remission was only achieved with Ara-C at 2 g/m2/day and not 1 g/m2/day (9/15 versus 0/4, P = 0.03)

Quality-adjusted Time Without Symptoms of disease or Toxicity (Q-TWiST) analysis of CPX-351 versus 7 + 3 in older adults with newly diagnosed high-risk/secondary AML

BACKGROUND: CPX-351 (United States: Vyxeos METHODS: Patients were randomized 1:1 between December 20, 2012 and November 11, 2014 to receive induction with CPX-351 or 7 + 3. Survival time for each patient was partitioned into 3 health states: TOX (time with any grade 3 or 4 toxicity or prior to remission), TWiST (time in remission without relapse or grade 3 or 4 toxicity), and REL (time after relapse). Within each treatment arm, Q-TWiST was calculated by adding the mean time spent in each health state weighted by its respective quality-of-life, represented by health utility. The relative Q-TWiST gain, calculated as the difference in Q-TWiST between treatment arms divided by the mean survival of the 7 + 3 control arm, was determined in order to evaluate results in the context of other Q-TWiST analyses. RESULTS: The relative Q-TWiST gain with CPX-351 versus 7 + 3 was 53.6% in the base case scenario and 39.8% among responding patients. Across various sensitivity analyses, the relative Q-TWiST gains for CPX-351 ranged from 48.0 to 57.6%, remaining well above the standard clinically important difference threshold of 15% for oncology. CONCLUSIONS: This post hoc analysis demonstrates that CPX-351 improved quality-adjusted survival, further supporting the clinical benefit in patients with newly diagnosed high-risk/secondary acute myeloid leukemia. Trial registration This trial was registered on September 28, 2012 at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01696084 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01696084 ) and is complete

Bilateral Serous Retinal Detachment as a Presenting Sign of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

We present a case of bilateral serous retinal detachment (SRD) as a presenting sign of Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL). A 45-year-old woman presented with decreased vision and was found to have bilateral serous retinal detachment. Peripheral blood smears revealed leukocytosis of 53.9×103/µL with 64.6% lymphoblasts. A bone marrow aspirate revealed the presence of lymphoblasts. Cytogenetic and molecular genetic analysis detected a reciprocal translocation between chromosome 9 and 22, t(9;22) (q34;q11). A diagnosis of Ph+ ALL was made. Following systemic chemotherapy, the bilateral SRD resolved completely with full recovery of vision. The sudden appearance of SRD should raise suspicion for leukemia. Prompt recognition of this disease is important for early systemic treatment and restoration of visual function

Outcome of patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia post-imatinib mesylate failure

BACKGROUND. The prognosis of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) after failure of imatinib mesylate therapy is not well documented. METHODS. The outcome of 420 patients with CML post-imatinib failure (resistance-recurrence in 374; toxicities in 46) were reviewed in relation to survival, overall, and by different therapies. RESULTS. The estimated 3-year survival rates were 72% in 88 patients who progressed in chronic phase, 30% in 130 patients who progressed in accelerated phase, 7% in 156 patients who progressed in blastic phase, and 75% in 37 patients in chronic phase with imatinib intolerance. Survival in chronic phase was better when subsequent therapy was nilotinib or dasatinib vs allogeneic stem cell transplant vs others (estimated 2-year survival rates 100% vs 72% vs 67%; P = .01), but not in accelerated-blastic phase. CONCLUSIONS. Prognosis post-imatinib failure in chronic phase is reasonable; it is poor if the CML phase post-imatinib failure is accelerated or blastic. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55988/1/22569_ftp.pd