Experimental software engineering in educational context

Empirical studies are important in software engineering to evaluate new tools, techniques, methods and technologies in a structured way before they are introduced in the industrial (real) software process. Within this PhD thesis we will develop a framework of a consistent process for involving students as subjects of empirical studies of software engineering. In concrete, our experiences with software development teams composed of students will analyze how RUP (Rational Unified Process) processes can be compliant with the CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), namely in the context of MLs (maturity levels) 2 and 3. Additionally, we will also analyze the influence of project management tools to improve the process maturity of the teams. Our final goal of carrying out empirical studies with students is to understand its validity when compared with the corresponding studies in real industrial settings

Architectural element points: estimating software development effort by analysis of logical architectures

Empirical studies are important in software engineering to evaluate new tools, techniques, methods and technologies. In object-oriented analysis, use case models describe the functional requirements of a software system, so they can be the basis for software measurement and sizing. The purpose of this study is to develop a new metric called Architectural Element Points (AEPoint) that enables to calculate the effort required to develop a software solution, using the 4-Step Rule Set (4SRS) method. This paper describes a case study with 60 undergraduate students grouped in four teams that developed a software system (Web application) for a real customer. In this study, we used the AEPoint metric to estimate the resources needed to develop a software system. The results of the AEPoint and Use Case Points (UCP) metrics and the real software development effort are compared, conclusions drawn and recommendations are proposed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Epidemiologia e susceptibilidade aos antibióticos em isolados de S. aureus meticilina-resistentes

É sabido que num mesmo país a prevalência de S. aureus meticilina-resistentes (SAMR) varia substancialmente de um hospital para outro. De modo a compreender a epidemiologia e a resistência aos antibióticos dos isolados SAMR no Hospital S. Teotónio – Viseu, conduzimos um estudo retrospectivo (2000-2001) através da análise da base de dados do laboratório (MODULAB IZASA), que permite obter dados demográficos acerca dos pacientes, e padrões de resistência dos isolados de S. aureus. A identificação das estirpes foi efectuada com o sistema Vitek (bioMérieux, Marcy L’étoile, France) e galerias BBL+ (Beckton Dickinson, Cockeysville, Maryland, USA). Para a susceptibilidade antimicrobiana recorreu-se ao sistema Vitek e ao método de difusão de disco (Kirby-Bauer). Foram seguidas as guidelines interpretativas da NCCLS. Do total de 300 isolados de S. aureus estudados, 110 (37%) provieram de exsudados purulentos, 109 (36.1%) do tracto respiratório, 52 (17.3%) de sangue e 16 (5.3%) de pontas de catéter. A resistência global à meticilina foi de 46.7% (140/300). As amostras mais comuns a partir das quais se isolaram SAMR foram as secreções respiratórias (54.2%), seguidas pelos exsudatos purulentos (24.2%), hemoculturas (12.1%) e pontas de catéter (7.1%). Nos isolados invasivos a resistência à meticilina foi de 32.7%. As taxas de resistência dos SAMR a outros antibióticos foram as seguintes: 96.3% resistentes à ciprofloxacina, 92.7% à eritromicina, 91.7% à gentamicina, 86.3% à tetraciclina, 75% ao trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole e 54.8% à clindamicina. A taxa de multirresistência foi de 87%. Os isolados SAMR exibem altos níveis de resistência à maioria dos antibióticos, excepto à teicoplanina e vancomicina, que continuam a ser as principais armas terapêuticas nas infecções por SAMR, apesar do uso substancial de glicopéptidos ao longo de muitos anos. Concluímos que a prevalência de isolados SAMR é elevada (46.7%) no Hospital S. Teotónio, o que se correlaciona com um estudo anterior de hospitais portugueses (48-50%), e com resultados de países mediterrâneos como Espanha, Itália e França (30-50%). Contudo, contrasta fortemente com os países do norte da Europa como Alemanha, Suécia, Holanda e Dinamarca (<5%). Estes dados serão úteis para a nossa comissão de controlo da infecção

Experimentation with radio environment maps for resources optimisation in dense wireless scenarios

The rapidly increasing popularity of WiFi has created unprecedent levels of congestion in the unlicensed frequency bands, especially in densely populated urban areas. This results mainly because of the uncoordinated operation and the unmanaged interference between WiFi access points. Recently, Radio Environment Maps (REM) have been suggested as a support for coordination strategies that optimize the overall WiFi network performance. Despite some theoretical work done in this area, there are no clear experimental evidences of the benefit brought by WiFi coordination. In this context, the main objective of this experiment is to assess the benefit of a coordinated management of radio resources in dense WiFi networks using REMs for indoor scenarios. This experiment has used the w-iLab.t test environment provided by iMINDS, a cognitive-radio testbed for remote experimentation. It was shown that REMs are capable of detecting the presence of interfering links on the network (co-channel or adjacent channel interference), and a suitable coordination strategy can use this information to reconfigure Access Points (AP) channel assignment and reestablish the client connection. The coordination strategy almost double the capacity of a WiFi link under strong co–channel interference, from 6.8 Mbps to 11.8 Mbps, increasing the aggregate throughput of the network from 58.7 Mbps to 71.5 Mbps. However, this gain comes with the cost of a relatively high density network of spectrum sensors (12 sensors for an area of 60 × 20 m), increasing the cost of deployment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Local environment and fragmentation by drought and damming shape different components of native and non-native fish beta diversity across pool refuges

Pool refuges are critical for maintaining stream fish diversity in increasingly intermittent streams. Yet, the patterns and drivers of beta diversity of native and non-native fish in pool refuges remain poorly known. Focusing on Mediterranean streams, we decomposed beta diversity of native and non-native fish into richness difference (RichDiff) and species replacement (Repl), and local (LCBD, LCBDRichDiff and LCBDRepl) and species (SCBD) contributions. We assessed the influence of environmental and spatial factors associated with drought and damming fragmentations on beta diversity components and LCBDs, and of local species richness and occupancy on LCBDs and SCBD, respectively. Overall, non-native species showed a more limited occupancy of pool refuges than native fish. RichDiff dominated beta diversity, though it was influenced by drought and damming fragmentations for native fish and local environment for non-native fish. Repl for native fish was slightly influenced by local environment, but for non-native fish was largely driven by drought and damming, albeit with a contribution of local environment as well. LCBD and LCBDRichDiff increased in pools in low order streams for native fish and at low elevations for non-native fish, and with high or low species richness. SCBD was higher for native species with intermediated pool occupancy, but for non-native species with low occupancy. Our results suggest that stream fragmentation may drive native species loss and non-native species replacement in pool refuges, and that environmental filtering may shape non-native species loss. Pools in lower order streams har bouring unique species-rich or species-poor assemblages should be prioritize for conservation and restoration, respectively, and pools at low elevation with unique non-native assemblages should deserve control efforts. We encourage the partitioning of beta diversity and individual analysis of native and non-native fish in intermittent streams, which may be key in stressing the importance of pool refuges in safeguarding native fish diversity.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Blunt Trauma and Right Diaphragmatic Rupture: Unveiling the Impact

Traumatic diaphragmatic ruptures are rare, yet blunt injuries tend to be more easily overlooked compared to penetrating trauma. The minimal evidence of external injuries makes a high index of suspicion key for diagnosis. We report the case of a right-sided thoracoabdominal blunt trauma that resulted in a diaphragmatic rupture and fractured rib. Although often approached through a midline laparotomy, a definitive right thoracotomy repair was exceptionally performed since the adjacent peritoneum remained uninjured.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An empirical study on the estimation of size and complexity of software applications with function points analysis

Empirical studies are important in software engineering to evaluate new tools, techniques, methods and technologies in a structured way before they are introduced in the industrial (real) software process. Perform empirical studies in a real context is very difficult due to various obstacles. An interesting alternative is perform empirical studies in an educational context using students as subjects and share the results with the academia and the industry. This paper describes a case study with two teams that developed a software system (Web application) for a real customer. In this study we used a model based on Function Points Analysis (FPA) to estimate the size and complexity of software system

Exercise as a tool for hypertension and resistant hypertension management: current insights

Although there has been an observed progress in the treatment of hypertension, its prevalence remains elevated and constitutes a leading cause of cardiovascular disease development. Resistant hypertension is a challenge for clinicians, as the available treatment options have reduced success. Physical activity and exercise training play an important role in the management of blood pressure. The importance of physical activity and exercise training as part of a comprehensive lifestyle intervention is acknowledged by several professional organizations in their recommendations/guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension. Aerobic exercise, dynamic resistance exercise, and concurrent training - the combination of dynamic resistance and aerobic exercise training in the same exercise session or on separate days - has been demonstrated to reduce blood pressure and help in the management of hypertension. The present review draws attention to the importance of exercise training in the management of blood pressure in both hypertension and resistant hypertension individuals.This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Factors Program – COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the project “P2020-PTDC/DTPDES/1725/2014.” iBiMED is a research unit supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (Ref: UID/BIM/04501/2013) and POCI-01–0145-FEDER-007628 funds. CIDESD is a research unit supported by FCT (UID/DTP/04045/2013) and by the European Regional Development Fund, through COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01–0145-FEDER-006969). Susana Lopes received a PhD grant from the Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/129454/2017).publishe

Longevity of risks in software development projects: a comparative analysis with an academic environment

The study presented in this paper was developed in an academic environment. All subjects involved in this research are enrolled in the Information Systems Master’s Degree of the University of Minho. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate the need for the continuity of studies about the risks presented in software development projects. For this purpose, we analyzed more than four hundred risks and about one hundred problems faced and documented by the working groups. With the collected data we defined a list of twenty risks and conducted a comparative study of these risks with others already formalized in previous industrial studies. The comparison data was analyzed and interpreted, and important conclusions were made.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A mechanical analysis of polydicyclopentadiene with metal inserts through flexural load

Polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD) is being used in several products with particular success regarding to weight reduction and surface finish improvement. Despite the enough good mechanical properties presented by this thermosetting polymer, it needs to be adequately reinforced in applications requiring extra structural stability. This work studies the improvement of mechanical properties that may be achieved in PDCPD components reinforced with over-moulded steel wires by using the reaction injection moulding (RIM). Specimens, with and without metal inserts, were produced by using a special dedicated developed prototype RIM mould to be submitted to three point bending test, according to EN ISO 178:2003 standard. This paper presents and discusses the results obtained from the flexural tests, which allow concluding that the solution could be industrially used in feasible and advantageous conditions.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)Fundos FEDER, Programa Operacional para Fatores de Competitividade – COMPETE, projeto 1384