Scheduling Refactoring Opportunities Using Computational Search

Maintaining a high-level code quality can be extremely expensive since time and monetary pressures force programmers to neglect improving the quality of their source code. Refactoring is an extremely important solution to reduce and manage the growing complexity of software systems. Developers often need to make trade-offs between code quality, available resources and delivering a product on time, and such management support is beyond the scope and capability of existing refactoring engines. The problem of finding the optimal sequence in which the refactoring opportunities, such as bad smells, should be ordered is rarely studied. Due to the large number of possible scheduling solutions to explore, software engineers cannot manually find an optimal sequence of refactoring opportunities that may reduce the effort and time required to efficiently improve the quality of software systems. In this paper, we use bi-level multi-objective optimization to the refactoring opportunities management problem. The upper level generates a population of solutions where each solution is defined as an ordered list of code smells to fix which maximize the benefits in terms of quality improvements and minimize the cost in terms of number of refactorings to apply. The lower level finds the best sequence of refactorings that fixes the maximum number of code smells with a minimum number of refactorings for each solution (code smells sequence) in the upper level. The statistical analysis of our experiments over 30 runs on 6 open source systems and 1 industrial project shows a significant reduction in effort and better improvements of quality when compared to state-of-art bad smells prioritization techniques. The manual evaluation performed by software engineers also confirms the relevance of our refactoring opportunities scheduling solutions.Master of ScienceComputer Science, College of Engineering and Computer ScienceUniversity of Michigan-Dearbornhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136063/1/Scheduling Refactoring Opportunities Using Computational Search.pd

Strategic human resource management and organizational performance: a case study from an Egyptian nonprofit organization

This study examines the relationship between strategic human resource management (SHRM) and organizational performance outcomes in Egyptian nonprofit organizations. The study uses a mixed-methods approach where quantitative research is followed by in-depth interviews to test the proposed relationships among variables at a growing human services nonprofit organization operating in Cairo. Data helped in identifying relationships between four unique SHRM configurations (retention, acquisition, training and internal labor market) and two workforce characteristics (employee intent to leave and human capital) proven by empirical literature to have a direct impact on perceptual measures of organizational performance. While research results suggested that measures of turnover were found to directly improve organization-level performance, data did not assert that measures for human capital (work experience and education level) directly enhance performance. However, these measures were found to be positively associated with acquisition and training in the context of human resource (HR) practices

A study of the role of actin polymerization in the regulation of vascular contractility in a mouse model

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and globally. Aortic stiffness has recently been implicated as an independent risk factor and has attracted research efforts to prevent cardiovascular diseases. More recently, vascular smooth muscle cell stiffness has been proven to play an important role in aortic stiffness, but the precise mechanism of how smooth muscle contributes to vascular stiffness is still unknown. Studying VSMCs (vascular smooth muscle cells) in depth is a hot topic for ongoing research in this decade because, by understanding the mechanisms involved, we can discover novel medications to prevent cardiovascular diseases before they even develop. Given the importance and impact of dVSMCs (differentiated vascular smooth muscle cells) on cardiovascular diseases and the recent movement to the mouse as the preferred animal model, to take advantage of genetically modified mice that can mimic human diseases such as aging, hypertension and atherosclerosis in cardiovascular research, we need in-depth studies of dVSMCs in the mouse. Most studies on vascular smooth muscle have focused on cultured cells while very few have examined contractile dVSMCs. The freshly isolated contractile dVSMC is a better model of vivo cells than are cultured cells. Thus, the purpose of this research was to develop protocols to study the contractility, signal transduction, and cytoskeletal regulation in small mouse blood vessels and contractile cells. Firstly, I developed a novel protocol to freshly isolate dVSMCs from a mouse aorta that are viable and respond to stimulation. This will allow us to better understand signaling pathways controlling dVSMCs and thus to discover targets for application of many therapeutic interventions to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Secondly, I successfully developed a modification of the differential ultracentrifugation protocol on mouse tissue to allow the assay of changes in actin polymerization levels in mouse dVSM. Thirdly, I found for the first time that contractile agonists trigger actin polymerization in mouse VSMCs and postulate that actin polymerization is a regulator of dVSM contractility in the mouse. The current literature strongly suggests that actin polymerization may be a valuable drug target for new cardiovascular therapeutics

The ethical motivation in public service

This paper discusses the role of ethics in public administration practice, and considers the probability of adding an ethical dimension to the public service motivation (PSM) construct. Several scholars have linked PSM with ethical behavior in government. Together theory and research have shown that public servants, when compared to ordinary citizens, are more concerned about ethical considerations at both the individual (personal honesty and integrity) and collective (social justice and fairness) levels in the United States. It may thus be possible for ethics to play a fundamental role in scholarly efforts to define and measure PSM. This paper considers the probability of adding an ethical dimension to public administration construct and helps to clarify the role of ethics in PSM discourse and research

Correlates of Inter-Generational Transmission of Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence is a prevalent phenomenon plaguing society, with its negative effects being propagated from one generation to the next. The author hypothesized that there exists a qualitative correlation between male children who witnessed adult males perpetrate violence against females in childhood and subsequent adult onset perpetration of violence against women. After conducting a meta-analysis of 44 peer-reviewed articles, the author found that: (a) children who witnessed interparental IPV manifested increased disturbed behaviors as well as cognitive and emotional impairment corresponding to the severity and frequency of the episodes witnessed; and (b) men who witnessed parental IPV were more likely to perpetrate IPV in their intimate relationships and have more positive attitudes towards abuse

Prevalence of depression amongst caregivers of stroke patients attending Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia

Introduction: Caregiving for stroke patients is a challenging task both emotionally and physically. Studies have shown that caregiving can affect caregivers’ wellbeing that could lead to depression. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of depression amongst caregivers of stroke patients attending Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) in Kelantan over a 6 month period. Methodology: This is a cross sectional study at the primary care clinic in HUSM over a period of 6 months. A total of 116 caregivers of medically documented stroke patients who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited via convenience sampling. The brief patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to assess their depression. Descriptive statistics and bivariable analysis was used using SPSS version 23.Results: 63.8% of the caregivers of stroke patients are depressed. Caregiver’s burden, ethnicity and patient’s ethnicity were found to be significant associated risk factors for depression.Conclusion: Screening for depression in caregivers especially those with risk factors must be carried out in the clinic in order to detect and intervene early. Coping mechanisms especially in the religious aspect should be elicited in future studies

A Genetically-Encoded Reporter for In Vivo Imaging in Deep Tissues

Introduction. The ability to track cells in living organisms with sensitivity, accuracy and high spatial resolution would revolutionize the way we study disease. Reporter genes are valuable tools as they encode detectible products, allowing for quantitative “reporting” of cells that express them. Previously, a gene encoding Organic anion-transporting polypeptide 1a1 (Oatp1a1) was established as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reporter based on its ability to take up the paramagnetic contrast agent gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA). Our objective was to assess, characterize and further develop this system for whole-body tracking of cells in vivo. Methods. Cancer cells were engineered to synthetically express Oatp1a1, or Oatp1b3, a closely related human transporter protein. In our first study, T1-weighted images of Oatp1a1-expressing primary tumours in preclinical animals were acquired before and after administration of 0.1-mmol/kg Gd-EOB-DTPA at 3-Tesla. At endpoint, heterogenous contrast enhancement patterns within the primary tumour architecture were compared to whole-tumour fluorescent histology. In the next study, T1-weighted images of Oatp1b3-expressing primary tumours, and their spontaneous metastases to the lymph nodes and lungs, were acquired before and after administration of 1-mmol/kg Gd-EOB-DTPA at 3-Tesla. In the final study, the feasibility of Oatp1b3 as a photoacoustic reporter gene was assessed by acquiring full-spectrum near infrared photoacoustic images of primary tumours in preclinical animals before and after administration of 8-mg/kg indocyanine green. Results. We were able to demonstrate the feasibility of imaging cancer cells with Oatp1a1 at 3-Tesla and 0.1 mmol/kg Gd-EOB-DTPA. Importantly, as primary tumours grew over time, heterogeneous contrast enhancement patterns that emerged near-endpoint strongly correlated to viable cell distributions on whole-tumour histology. Oatp1b3 was also shown to operate as a MRI reporter gene at 3-Tesla, based on the same principle as Oatp1a1. Impressively, single lymph node metastases and the formation of micrometastases in the lungs of preclinical animals were detected with Oatp1b3-MRI. Finally, we also demonstrated the ability of Oatp1b3 to operate as a photoacoustic reporter gene based on its ability to take up indocyanine green. Conclusion. The Oatp1 reporter gene system is a versatile imaging tool for longitudinal tracking of engineered cells in vivo with sensitivity, high resolution, and 3-dimensional spatial information

Practica de bioseguridad y cuidado enfermero a pacientes con tubo endotraqueal en enfermeros de la unidad de cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Maria Auxiliadora, 2018

El objetivo fue determinar la relación que existe entre la práctica de bioseguridad y el cuidado enfermero a pacientes con tubo endotraqueal en enfermeros de la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital María Auxiliadora, 2018, tipo de investigación cuantitativo, método descriptivo, diseño no experimental- correlacional, nivel aplicado, población 64 y muestra 47.The objective was to determine the relationship between the practice of biosafety and nursing care for patients with endotracheal tube in nurses of the Intensive Care Unit, María Auxiliadora Hospital, 2018, type of quantitative research, descriptive method, non-experimental-correlational design, applied level, population 64 and sample 47