Software Development Standard and Software Engineering Practice: A Case Study of Bangladesh

Improving software process to achieve high quality in a software development organization is the key factor to success. Bangladeshi software firms have not experienced much in this particular area in comparison to other countries. The ISO 9001 and CMM standard has become a basic part of software development. The main objectives of our study are: 1) To understand the software development process uses by the software developer firms in Bangladesh 2) To identify the development practices based on established quality standard and 3) To establish a standardized and coherent process for the development of software for a specific project. It is revealed from this research that software industries of Bangladesh are lacking in target set for software process and improvement, involvement of quality control activities, and standardize business expertise practice. This paper investigates the Bangladeshi software industry in the light of the above challenges.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 11 table

Biodegradable electronics; materials and current approaches

This master’s thesis is a part of ‘Human Spare Parts’ research program by BioMediTech. The aim of the research program is to integrate different branches of biomedical engineering and stem cell research to discover new and better therapies and treatments. However, this thesis concentrates on biomaterials and sensor technology. The first part of the thesis, entitled the theoretical part is dedicated to a detailed investigation of the biodegradable electronics. This part gives an introduction to materials, existing technologies and area of applications. Polymers as organic materials, biodegradable materials, their classifications, and scope for biodegradable electronics are discussed in this part. A discussion of currently developed devices for medical and other applications are also documented. New organic materials such as, conducting, semiconducting and dielectric polymers have been developed for the facilitation of biodegradable electronics. Their ease in processing and fabricating has made them a potential candidate for organic electronics. Inorganic materials are being used as well, but the dependence is reducing with the emergence of new materials. Extremely flexible, bendable, thermally well stable and fully degradable electronic components have been demonstrated successfully. The second part of the thesis involves an experimental part. The feasibility of biodegradable encapsulation of LC resonance sensor and reliability of extractable features to monitor the water absorption and degradation processes in the polymeric materials were studied. Biodegradable encapsulation of polycaprolactone (PCL) was found to be a potential candidate for such sensor configurations. PCL exhibited a low processing temperature and was found to be stabilized after taking up water into its matrix. Based on the results, further studies are needed in order to sort out prospects in biosensor technology based on the concept of biodegradable encapsulation of LC resonance circuit

Functional niche differentiation in co-occurring congeneric plants

Niche differentiation is argued as one of the mechanisms explaining species coexistence. Despite their sessile nature, similar resource needs and traits to acquire and utilize resources closely related plant species coexist. I hypothesized that i) spatial distribution of congeneric species would be similar because they are closely related with similar traits and resource needs and ii) each species will perform different biological functions (growth vs. reproduction) optimally at different points along a resource gradient and thereby differentiate their functional niche to ensure coexistence by complementary resource use. I collected data on two congeneric wild blueberry species, Vaccinium angustifolium and V. myrtilloides on occurrence from 13,500 20 x 20 cm quadrates, their growth and reproductive response to light and microhabitat parameters from 360 1 x 1 m quadrates along 90 30 m transects from 5 regions of NW Ontario. I also grew these two species in a common garden experiment (CGE) under a shade gradient to test their response to light in competition-free environment. A chi-square test confirmed that V. angustifolium and V. myrtilloides are co-occurring species. Variance partitioning analysis revealed that light is the most important microsite variable. Frequency of occurrence showed their abundance gradually increase from low to high light with high niche overlaps. Regression model fitting of cover (indicating growth) and berry yield (indicating reproduction) along the light gradient provided species functional response curves. By rescaling the response curves I obtained comparable functional fitness/performance curves, which showed that for both species optimum performance for growth and reproduction peaked at different light levels in natural habitats and in CGE. But their niche overlaps between growth and reproduction functions were markedly lower in natural habitats than in CGE meaning that these congeneric species differentiate their niche preferences for growth and reproduction. Both species showed conspicuous shift of functional niche in natural habitats from the CGE. Higher growth of one species was often corresponded with lower growth of the other suggesting a complimentary use of finite growing space. These results suggest that neighbouring plants may reduce their competitive stress by adjusting their biological functions through functional niche differentiation. To my knowledge this is the first study providing clear quantitative evidence of functional niche differentiation in two closely related coexisting plants. One of the mechanisms by which clonal understory woody plants avoid competition for light is through differentiating ‘physical space niches’ by foraging small resource patches by clonal extension. The results of my study reveal another mechanism of species co-existence, which has evolutionary significance. I show how two congeneric clonal species occupying the same physical niche space can avoid competition by differentiating their functional niche. Further discovery of functional niche differentiation in multiple coexisting species along multiple resource gradients (such as soil nutrients, soil moisture) will make a significant contribution to refining community assembly rules

Limb-threatening compartment syndrome: A rare complication of dengue fever

Dengue fever, a common mosquito-borne disease in Malaysia, has a wide range of clinical presentations. Dengue shock syndrome, a potentially fatal complication of dengue, is associated with derangement of numerous haematologic markers. A compromised coagulation profle, coupled with a traumatic incident may lead to a serious haemorrhagic complication. We present a rare complication of acute compartment syndrome of the right upper limb in a 17- year-old gentleman who was admitted for decompensated dengue shock syndrome after an unsuccessful attempt of venous cannulation. An emergency fasciotomy was performed and the right upper limb was salvaged albeit with ulnar nerve and radial nerve palsy

Spectrochemical analysis of soil around leather tanning industry using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

We report the use of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to determine the chromium contamination of soil due to effluents from leather tanning industry in Kasur District of Punjab (+ 31 ° 6 ′ 23.2 1 ″, + 74 ° 2 7 ′ 16.2 9 ″) in Pakistan. Calibration curves were constructed by indigenously prepared standard sample and fitting of curves by linear regression. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 23.71 mg kg-1. It has been found that the concentration of chromium in the soil is up to 839 mg kg-1 in vicinity of effluent drain and 1829 mg kg-1 in the area of old stagnant pool, which is much higher than the safe limits. Qualitative detection of other elements like Na, Cl, Fe, P, and Si was done from LIBS spectra. The leaching of soil contaminants due to seepage of industrial effluents from deteriorating brick lined drains in horizontal direction has also been observed

Evaluation of the protective effects of tocotrienol-rich fraction from palm oil on the dentate gyrus following chronic restraint stress in rats

Exposure to chronic restraint stress has been shown to cause a number of morphological changes in the hippocampal formation of rats. Tocotrienol, an isoform of vitamin E, exhibits numerous health benefits, different from those of tocopherol. Recent studies have demonstrated that tocotrienol prevents stressinduced changes in the gastric mucosa, thus indicating that it may also protect other organs such as the brain from the damaging effects of stress. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) extracted from palm oil on the dentate gyrus of rats following exposure to chronic restraint stress. Thirty-six male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups: control, stress, tocotrienol and combination of stress and tocotrienol. Animals were stressed by restraining them for 5 hours every day for 21 consecutive days. TRF was administered via oral gavage at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight. Our results showed that the plasma corticosterone level was significantly increased in response to stress, compared to the control. The results confirmed previous findings that chronic restraint stress suppresses cellular proliferation and reduces granule cell number in the dentate gyrus. However, TRF supplementation failed to prevent or minimize these stressinduced changes. Therefore, we conclude that TRF at the current dosage is not effective in preventing the morphological changes in the dentate gyrus induced by chronic restraint stress

Pengaruh Pemberian Permainan Kung Fu Matematika terhadap Kemampuan Berhitung Anak Usia Dini

This study aims to determine whether there is influence of giving Math Kung Fu game to the ability of early childhood counting. Development activities of children's numeracy skills can be done through a game that would be more effective because the world of children is a world of play. Subjects in this study, as an experimental group is 20 children in Group A TK Dharma Wanita Punjul 3 District Plosoklaten Kediri. While as a control group is 19 children in Group A TK Dharma Wanita Gogorante Kediri Regency. Both groups are considered to have common characteristics common to this study. The sample selection is done by convenience sampling technique, the researcher has no other consideration except based on convenience only. This type of research is quasi-experimental research, using a non-randomized pretest-posttest control group design. The design of this study was conducted by providing pretest before treatment was administered and posttest after treatment, as well as a control group and experimental group. In this design, the sample is set with no random. Instrument of data collection in this research is performance assessment sheet with scale of appraisal, using observation and performance technique. Data analysis was done by t-two sample test with SPSS for windows version 16. The Paired-Samples T Test analysis shows the test results of 3.383 and the mean difference of 1.263. Sig value obtained is 0.003, smaller than alpha specified that is 0.05. This shows that there is a significant difference between the mean values of children in the experimental group and the control group. The Paired Samples Statistics analysis shows the mean value in the experimental group of 13.05 and in the control group of 10.79. This shows that the mean posttest score of children in the experimental group is better than the control group. This means that there is a positive and significant influence on the giving of the Math Kung Fu Game to the ability of early childhood counting. The ability to count children develops after playing Math Kung Fu