What to Fix? Distinguishing between design and non-design rules in automated tools

Technical debt---design shortcuts taken to optimize for delivery speed---is a critical part of long-term software costs. Consequently, automatically detecting technical debt is a high priority for software practitioners. Software quality tool vendors have responded to this need by positioning their tools to detect and manage technical debt. While these tools bundle a number of rules, it is hard for users to understand which rules identify design issues, as opposed to syntactic quality. This is important, since previous studies have revealed the most significant technical debt is related to design issues. Other research has focused on comparing these tools on open source projects, but these comparisons have not looked at whether the rules were relevant to design. We conducted an empirical study using a structured categorization approach, and manually classify 466 software quality rules from three industry tools---CAST, SonarQube, and NDepend. We found that most of these rules were easily labeled as either not design (55%) or design (19%). The remainder (26%) resulted in disagreements among the labelers. Our results are a first step in formalizing a definition of a design rule, in order to support automatic detection.Comment: Long version of accepted short paper at International Conference on Software Architecture 2017 (Gothenburg, SE

Risk of placenta previa in second birth after first birth cesarean section: a population-based study and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk of placenta previa at second birth among women who had a cesarean section (CS) at first birth with women who delivered vaginally. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of 399,674 women who gave birth to a singleton first and second baby between April 2000 and February 2009 in England. Multiple logistic regression was used to adjust the estimates for maternal age, ethnicity, deprivation, placenta previa at first birth, inter-birth interval and pregnancy complications. In addition, we conducted a meta-analysis of the reported results in peer-reviewed articles since 1980. RESULTS: The rate of placenta previa at second birth for women with vaginal first births was 4.4 per 1000 births, compared to 8.7 per 1000 births for women with CS at first birth. After adjustment, CS at first birth remained associated with an increased risk of placenta previa (odds ratio = 1.60; 95% CI 1.44 to 1.76). In the meta-analysis of 37 previously published studies from 21 countries, the overall pooled random effects odds ratio was 2.20 (95% CI 1.96-2.46). Our results from the current study is consistent with those of the meta-analysis as the pooled odds ratio for the six population-based cohort studies that analyzed second births only was 1.51 (95% CI 1.39-1.65). CONCLUSIONS: There is an increased risk of placenta previa in the subsequent pregnancy after CS delivery at first birth, but the risk is lower than previously estimated. Given the placenta previa rate in England and the adjusted effect of previous CS, 359 deliveries by CS at first birth would result in one additional case of placenta previa in the next pregnancy.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Peningkatan Nilai Kalori pada Batubara Lignit dengan Metode Aglomerasi Air dan Minyak Sawit pada PT. Indonesia Power Ujp Pltu Barru

Penggunaan batubara di PLTU sangat bergantung kepada kualitas batubara yang digunakan, karena semakin tinggi kualitas batubara maka akan memaksimalkan pembakaran dan secara langsung akan berdampak pada produksi listrik yang dihasilkan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peningkatan nilai kalori pada batubara lignit. Pada penelitian ini digunakan metode aglomerasi dengan media air dan minyak sawit yang pada setiap sampel diberi perlakukan yang sama namun mengalami peningkatan yang berbeda. Ada tiga sampel yang digunakan pada penelitian ini dimana pada setiap sampel memiliki komposisi batubara lignit seberat 1 gram, minyak sawit sebanyak 10,20,30 ml dan air sebanyak 100 ml. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa semakin banyak konsentrasi minyak maka semakin tinggi kadar karbon yang diikat, sehingga dapat meningkatkan nilai kalori batubara. Dilihat dari konsentrasi 30% pada setiap sampel batubara mengalami peningkatan nilai kalori yang sebelumnya 3.765,23 cal/gr menjadi 5.279,46 cal/gr pada sampel pertama, 3.567,44 cal/gr menjadi 4.989,07 cal/gr pada sampel kedua dan 4.026,07 cal/gr menjadi 5.166,98 cal/gr pada sampel ketiga. Dari hasil penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa batubara lignit yang digunakan di PLTU dapat ditingkatkan nilai kalorinya menggunakan metode aglomerasi air dan minyak sawit

Cavitation in soft matter

Cavitation is the sudden, unstable expansion of a void or bubble within a liquid or solid subjected to a negative hydrostatic stress. Cavitation rheology is a field emerging from the development of a suite of materials characterization, damage quantification, and therapeutic techniques that exploit the physical principles of cavitation. Cavitation rheology is inherently complex and broad in scope with wide-ranging applications in the biology, chemistry, materials, and mechanics communities. This perspective aims to drive collaboration among these communities and guide discussion by defining a common core of high-priority goals while highlighting emerging opportunities in the field of cavitation rheology. A brief overview of the mechanics and dynamics of cavitation in soft matter is presented. This overview is followed by a discussion of the overarching goals of cavitation rheology and an overview of common experimental techniques. The larger unmet needs and challenges of cavitation in soft matter are then presented alongside specific opportunities for researchers from different disciplines to contribute to the field

Sociodemographic differences in symptom severity and duration among women referred to secondary care for menorrhagia in England and Wales: a cohort study from the National Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Audit.

OBJECTIVE: To examine symptom severity and duration at time of referral to secondary care for heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) by socioeconomic deprivation, age and ethnicity DESIGN: Cohort analysis of data from the National HMB Audit linked to Hospital Episode Statistics data. SETTING: English and Welsh National Health Services (secondary care): February 2011 to January 2012. PARTICIPANTS: 15 325 women aged 18-60 years in England and Wales who had a new referral for HMB to a gynaecology outpatient department METHODS: Multivariable linear regression to calculate adjusted differences in mean symptom severity and quality of life scores at first outpatient visit. Multivariable logistic regression to calculate adjusted ORs. Adjustment for body mass index, parity and comorbidities. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Mean symptom severity score (0=best, 100=worst), mean condition-specific quality of life score (0=worst, 100=best) and symptom duration (≥1 year). RESULTS: Women were on average 42 years old and 12% reported minority ethnic backgrounds. Mean symptom severity and condition-specific quality of life scores were 61.8 and 34.7. Almost three-quarters of women (74%) reported having had symptoms for ≥1 year. Women from more deprived areas had more severe symptoms at their first outpatient visit (difference -6.1; 95% CI-7.2 to -4.9, between least and most deprived quintiles) and worse condition-specific quality of life (difference 6.3; 95% CI 5.1 to 7.5). Symptom severity declined with age while quality of life improved. CONCLUSIONS: Women living in more deprived areas reported more severe HMB symptoms and poorer quality of life at the start of treatment in secondary care. Providers should examine referral practices to explore if these differences reflect women's health-seeking behaviour or how providers decide whether or not to refer

Dynamical torque in CoxFe3–xO4 nanocube thin films characterized by femtosecond magneto-optics : a π-shift control of the magnetization precession

RT and PA would like to thank the Nuffield Foundation (ref. URB40673), the Physics Trust, and the Student Council of the School of Physics and Astronomy at St Andrews to support RT’s research internships. IB and PA acknowledge support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, ref. EP/H010033/1).For spintronic devices excited by a sudden magnetic or optical perturbation, the torque acting on the magnetization plays a key role in its precession and damping. However the torque itself can be a dynamical quantity via the time dependent anisotropies of the system. A challenging problem for applications is then to disentangle the relative importance of various sources of anisotropies in the dynamical torque, such as the dipolar field, the crystal structure or the shape of the particular interacting magnetic nanostructures. Here, we take advantage of a range of colloidal cobalt ferrite nano-cubes assembled in 2D thin films under controlled magnetic fields to demonstrate that the phase φprec of the precession carries a strong signature of the dynamical anisotropies. Performing femtosecond magneto-optics, we show that φprec displays a π-shift for a particular angle θH of an external static magnetic field H. θH is controlled with the cobalt concentration, the laser intensity as well as the inter-particles interactions. Importantly it is shown that the shape anisotropy, which strongly departs from the one of equivalent bulk thin films or individual non-interacting nanoparticles, reveals the essential role played by the interparticles collective effects. This work shows the reliability of a non-invasive optical approach to characterize the dynamical torque in high density magnetic recording media made of organized and interacting nanoparticles.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Genetic diversity among some blackberry cultivars and their relationship with Boysenberry assessed by AFLP Markers

Blackberry cultivation has increased its popularity in Turkey due to the use of more blackberries in Turkish cuisine. To provide farmers with well adapted blackberry cultivars, some blackberry cultivars including a Boysenberry genotype from North America has been planted to various geographical regions in Turkey. In this study, genetic diversity among these blackberry cultivars and their genetic relationship with Boysenberry and raspberry were analyzed using AFLP markers. Our results indicated that Blackberry cultivars from North America had narrow genetic background which can pose a problem for future breeding programs. Blackberry genotypes selected from Bursa province of Turkey shared all AFLP markers with the cultivar Chester, which suggests that they were not unique genotypes. Although genetic similarity between Boysenberry and blackberry was low, Boysenberry wasgenetically related to common blackberry cultivars. On the other hand, AFLP analysis was unable to detect any genetic relationship between Boysenberry and common raspberry cultivars from North America in this study

Exploring the FoxP3+ Lymphocytes and Their Correlation with VEGF in Canine Histiocytic Tumors

Histiocytic proliferative diseases in dogs include reactive diseases such as cutaneous histiocytosis and systemic histiocytosis and neoplastic diseases such as cutaneous histiocytoma, histiocytic sarcoma, and disseminated histiocytic sarcoma. The aim of our study was to investigate the intensity of VEGF staining with FoxP3-positive T lymphocytes in various histiocytic diseases in dogs. The study evaluated 23 cases diagnosed with histiocytic tumors. Immunostaining with Iba-1, E-cadherin, and CD3 antibodies was performed for differential diagnosis. Because of strong CD3 positivity, lymphoma was diagnosed in 2 cases. The diagnosis of histiocytic tumor was confirmed in 12 cases with intense Iba-1 positivity. In the other 9 cases, Iba-1-positive histiocytic cells were detected in the tumor tissue. Histopathologic examination of the 12 Iba-1-positive cases revealed that 4 cases were cutaneous histiocytomas, 3 cases were cutaneous histiocytosis, and 5 cases were histiocytic sarcomas (1 hemophagocytic histiocytic sarcoma). Mild E-cadherin positivity was detected in only one cutaneous histiocytoma and one histiocytic sarcoma. CD3- and FoxP3-positive T lymphocytes were counted and evaluated in 12 Iba-1-positive cases. In addition, VEGF staining revealed different degrees of positivity. Statistical analyzes revealed that there was a significant increase in CD3 positivity in histiocytic sarcoma and cutaneous histiocytosis cases compared with cutaneous histiocytoma cases in the group comparison. According to the correlation results of CD3, FoxP3, and VEGF levels, only a moderate negative correlation was found between FoxP3 and VEGF. According to the findings, increasing the amount of FoxP3-positive Tregs in canine histiocytic tumors may negatively correlate with VEGF-mediated angiogenesis

Structure-guided design and optimization of small molecules targeting the protein-protein interaction between the von hippel-lindau (VHL) E3 ubiquitin ligase and the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) alpha subunit with in vitro nanomolar affinities

E3 ubiquitin ligases are attractive targets in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, however, the development of small-molecule ligands has been rewarded with limited success. The von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL) is the substrate recognition subunit of the VHL E3 ligase that targets HIF-1α for degradation. We recently reported inhibitors of the pVHL:HIF-1α interaction, however they exhibited moderate potency. Herein, we report the design and optimization, guided by X-ray crystal structures, of a ligand series with nanomolar binding affinities