Exploring Supply Chains from a Technical Debt Perspective

Software development has evolved from software development organizations building custom solutions for every need and creating a backlog of applications needed by users to specialized organizations producing components that are supplied to other software development organizations to speed the development of their software products. Our objective is to illustrate how a manager might use supply chain information to evaluate software being considered for inclusion in a product. We investigated the Eclipse platform code to illustrate analysis methods that produce information of use to decision makers. The technical debt of the software pieces was measured using the Technical Debt plug-in to SONAR as one input into the evaluation of supply chain quality. The dependency graphs of uses relationships among files were analyzed using graph metrics such as betweenness centrality. There was a statistically significant moderate correlation between the technical debt for a file and the betweenness centrality for that file. This relationship is used as the basis for a heuristic approach to forming advice to a development manager regarding which assets to acquire

Longitudinal Analysis of Technical Debt for Strategic Platform Adoption

Increasingly, software producing organizations utilize a common software platform, joining an ecosystem; however, little expertise exists on selecting which platform to use when presented a number of different platforms. While technical debt can be used to examine the quality of a software platform by the organization that produces the software, a single discrete data point does not provide sufficient context for analysis. In this paper, we seek to resolve this difficulty by applying linear regression analysis to technical debt data collected by the SonarQube static analyzer. We apply this method to a case study on Cytoscape network analysis platform to perform a pedagogical investigation on the longitudinal technical debt found in that platform. We present our case study on the longitudinal technical debt in the form of arguments for and against the adoption of the Cytoscape network analysis platform, utilizing the data and analysis generated from our method

Assessing the drivers of dissolved organic matter export from two contrasting lowland catchments, U.K

AbstractTwo lowland catchments in the U.K. were sampled throughout 2010–11 to investigate the dominant controls on dissolved organic matter quantity and composition. The catchments had marked differences in terms of nutrient status, land cover and contrasting lithologies resulting in differences in the dominant flow pathways (groundwater vs. surface water dominated). The Upper Wylye is a chalk stream with a baseflow index of 0.98, draining a catchment dominated by intensive agricultural production. Millersford Brook is a lowland peat catchment with a baseflow index of 0.43, draining a semi-natural catchment with heather moorland and coniferous forest. Samples were collected weekly between October 2010 and September 2011 from eleven sampling locations. Samples were analysed to determine dissolved organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus fractions with DOM composition evaluated via the DOC:DON ratio, DOC:DOP ratio, specific UV absorption at 254nm, absorbance ratio (a250:a365) and the spectral slope parameter between 350 and 400nm (S350–400). Significant differences were observed in all determinands between the catchments, over time, and spatially along nutrient enrichment and geoclimatic gradients. Seasonal variation in preferential flow pathways mobilising groundwater-derived DOM were identified as likely controls on the delivery of DOM in the permeable chalk dominated catchment. Steeper S350–400 values and elevated a250:a365 ratios in this catchment suggest material of a lower bulk aromatic C content and molecular weight delivered during the winter months when compared to the summer. DOC:DON ratios were markedly lower in the chalk catchment than the peatland catchment, reflecting the paucity of organic matter within the mineral soils of the chalk landscape, and higher fertiliser application rates. This manuscript highlights that DOM composition varies according to catchment landscape character and hydrological function

Foliar water uptake: a common water acquisition strategy for plants of the redwood forest

Evaluations of plant water use in ecosystems around the world reveal a shared capacity by many different species to absorb rain, dew, or fog water directly into their leaves or plant crowns. This mode of water uptake provides an important water subsidy that relieves foliar water stress. Our study provides the first comparative evaluation of foliar uptake capacity among the dominant plant taxa from the coast redwood ecosystem of California where crown-wetting events by summertime fog frequently occur during an otherwise drought-prone season. Previous research demonstrated that the dominant overstory tree species, Sequoia sempervirens, takes up fog water by both its roots (via drip from the crown to the soil) and directly through its leaf surfaces. The present study adds to these early findings and shows that 80% of the dominant species from the redwood forest exhibit this foliar uptake water acquisition strategy. The plants studied include canopy trees, understory ferns, and shrubs. Our results also show that foliar uptake provides direct hydration to leaves, increasing leaf water content by 2–11%. In addition, 60% of redwood forest species investigated demonstrate nocturnal stomatal conductance to water vapor. Such findings indicate that even species unable to absorb water directly into their foliage may still receive indirect benefits from nocturnal leaf wetting through suppressed transpiration. For these species, leaf-wetting events enhance the efficacy of nighttime re-equilibration with available soil water and therefore also increase pre-dawn leaf water potentials