A SYSTEMS VIEW OF SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT VOLATILITY

Mitigating the risk due to requirement volatility requires that we treat this as a systemic problem and understand what handles project managers can manipulate for management of project risk. In this paper we propose a systems view of this problem using existing theory on user involvement and qualitative research conducted among experienced project managers. Augmenting an existing model of software project dynamics with elements of our understanding, we show that requirement volatility can occur as an outcome of uncontrolled user involvement defeating the very purpose for which user involvement is solicited. Project managers normally treat user involvement as a pre-requisite for obtaining software project success. What-if analysis with the model generates patterns of requirement volatility reported in literature. These insights into the relationship among user involvement, requirement volatility, and project performance are expected to assist project managers in devising user management strategies for controlling project risk

Optimization of Process Parameters for Generation of Nanocellular Polymer Foams

Abstract: High melt strength polypropylene nanocomposites, PPNC/Cloisite 20A (clay) with exfoliated and intercalated morphologies were prepared and subsequently foamed in a batch setup under different foaming conditions. The foaming parameters were varied to relate the foam cell structure to these parameters and determine the efficiency of clay in producing fine cell foams. A Box Benkhen design approach was used initially to determine the effect of processing parameters on foam cell morphology and also to perform optimization studies. The optimization process helped in identifying the range of operating conditions needed to minimize foam cell sizes. Saturation pressure and temperature and foaming time and temperature are the four processing variables used in these studies. Nanocellular foam cells were effectively generated for the first time in Polypropylene nanocomposites

Acute Immunomodulatory Effects of Fentanyl and its Three New Analogues in Swiss Albino Mice

Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid analgesic. However, due to its several limitations, new analogues are being synthesised for better pain management. We have earlier reported the synthesis and bio-efficacy of fentanyl and its eight new analogues (1-8) in mice. Among eight analogues tested, N-(1-(2-phenoxyethyl)-4-piperidinyl)propionanilide (2), N-isopropyl-3-(4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl)propanamide (5), and N-t-butyl-3-(4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl)propanamide (6) were found to be more effective and less toxic compared to fentanyl. Therapeutic efficacy of fentanyl and its analogues are known to be compromised due to many adverse effects, including alterations in the immune system. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to assess the acute effect of fentanyl and its three analogues (2, 5, and 6) on plasma levels of different pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and anti-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-10 (IL-10) at different time points. Mice were intraperitoneally treated with 0.50 LD50 of the compounds and cytokines were measured 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, and 24 h post-exposure. Compared to control, none of the treatments produced any change in TNF-α and IL-1β levels. However, IL-6 levels were significantly elevated between 1 h to 2 h post-exposure in fentanyl and analogue 2 treated groups. Further, IL-10 levels were found to be significantly increased in fentanyl, analogue 2, and 6 treated groups at 1 h and 2 h post-exposure. Pre-treatment of naltrexone (opioid receptor antagonist) blocked the effects of fentanyl, confirming that its effects were opioid receptor- dependent. However, effect of naltrexone on analogue 2 and 6 was not conclusively evidenced, indicating that immunomodulatory changes caused by the analogues could have some additional implications as well. The present study reveals undesirable effects of fentanyl and its new analogues on cytokines homeostasis, thereby limiting their use in pain management

COLOR IMAGE QUANTIZATION USING GDBSCAN

Color image quantization is the most widely used techniques in the field of image compression. DBSCAN is a density based data clustering technique. However DBSCAN is widely used for data clustering but not very popular for color image quantization due to some of issues associated with it. One of the problems associated with DBSCAN is that it becomes expensive when used on whole image data and also the noise points been unmapped. In this paper we are proposing a new color image quantization scheme which overcomes these problems. Our proposed algorithm is GDBSCAN (Grid Based DBSCAN) where we first decompose the image data in grids and then apply DBSCAN algorithm on each grid

Computational prediction and validation of C/D, H/ACA and Eh_U3 snoRNAs of Entamoeba histolytica

Background: Small nucleolar RNAs are a highly conserved group of small RNAs found in eukaryotic cells. Genes encoding these RNAs are diversely located throughout the genome. They are functionally conserved, performing post transcriptional modification (methylation and pseudouridylation) of rRNA and other nuclear RNAs. They belong to two major categories: the C/D box and H/ACA box containing snoRNAs. U3 snoRNA is an exceptional member of C/D box snoRNAs and is involved in early processing of pre-rRNA. An antisense sequence is present in each snoRNA which guides the modification or processing of target RNA. However, some snoRNAs lack this sequence and often they are called orphan snoRNAs. Results: We have searched snoRNAs of Entamoeba histolytica from the genome sequence using computational programmes (snoscan and snoSeeker) and we obtained 99 snoRNAs (C/D and H/ACA box snoRNAs) along with 5 copies of Eh_U3 snoRNAs. These are located diversely in the genome, mostly in intergenic regions, while some are found in ORFs of protein coding genes, intron and UTRs. The computationally predicted snoRNAs were validated by RT-PCR and northern blotting. The expected sizes were in agreement with the observed sizes for all C/D box snoRNAs tested, while for some of the H/ACA box there was indication of processing to generate shorter products. Conclusion: Our results showed the presence of snoRNAs in E. histolytica, an early branching eukaryote, and the structural features of E. histolytica snoRNAs were well conserved when compared with yeast and human snoRNAs. This study will help in understanding the evolution of these conserved RNAs in diverse phylogenetic groups

MGDD: Mycobacterium tuberculosis Genome Divergence Database

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Variation in genomes among different closely-related organisms can be linked to phenotypic differences. A number of mechanisms, such as replication error, repeat expansion and contraction, recombination and transposition can contribute to genomic differences. These processes lead to generation of SNPs, different types of repeat-based and transposons or IS-element-based polymorphisms, inversions and duplications and changes in synteny. A database of all the variations in a group of organisms is not only useful for understanding genotype-phenotype relationship but also in clinical applications. There is no database available at present that provides information about detailed genomic variations among different strains and species of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>complex, organisms responsible for human diseases.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>MGDD is a free web-based database that allows quick user friendly search to find different types of genomic variations among a group of fully sequenced organisms belonging to <it>M. tuberculosis </it>complex. The searches are based on data generated by pair wise comparison using a tool that has already been described. Different types of variations that can be searched are SNPs, indels, tandem repeats and divergent regions. The searches can be designed to find specific variations either in a given gene or any given location of the query genome with respect to any other genome currently available.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Web-based database MGDD can help to find all the possible differences that exists between two strains or species of <it>M. tuberculosis </it>complex. The search tool is very user-friendly and can be used by anyone not familiar with computational methods and will be useful to both clinicians and researchers working on tuberculosis and other Mycobacterial diseases.</p

The effect of exercise on behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: the EVIDEM-E randomised controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a simple dyadic (person with dementia and their main carer) exercise regimen as a therapy for the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. METHOD: A two arm, pragmatic, randomised, controlled, single-blind, parallel-group trial of a dyadic exercise regimen (individually tailored walking regimen designed to become progressively intensive and last between 20-30 min, at least five times per week).Community-dwelling individuals with ICD-10 confirmed dementia with the following: clinically significant behavioural and psychological symptoms, a carer willing and able to co-participate in the exercise regimen, and no physical conditions or symptoms that would preclude exercise participation were invited by mental health or primary care services into the study. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-one dyads were recruited to this study. There was no significant difference in Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms as measured by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory at week 12 between the group receiving the dyadic exercise regimen and those that did not (adjusted difference in means (intervention minus control) = -1.53, p = 0.6, 95% CI [-7.37, 4.32]). There was a significant between-group difference in caregiver's burden as measured by the Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory at week 12 (OR = 0.18, p = 0.01, CI [0.05, 0.69]) favouring the exercise group. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that regular simple exercise does not appear to improve the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, but did seem to attenuate caregiver burden. Further study to improve exercise uptake are needed

Complex Incremental Sheet Forming Using Back Die Support on Aluminium 2024, 5083 and 7075 alloys

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Anchor-Based Whole Genome Phylogeny (ABWGP): A Tool for Inferring Evolutionary Relationship among Closely Related Microorganims

Phenotypic behavior of a group of organisms can be studied using a range of molecular evolutionary tools that help to determine evolutionary relationships. Traditionally a gene or a set of gene sequences was used for generating phylogenetic trees. Incomplete evolutionary information in few selected genes causes problems in phylogenetic tree construction. Whole genomes are used as remedy. Now, the task is to identify the suitable parameters to extract the hidden information from whole genome sequences that truly represent evolutionary information. In this study we explored a random anchor (a stretch of 100 nucleotides) based approach (ABWGP) for finding distance between any two genomes, and used the distance estimates to compute evolutionary trees. A number of strains and species of Mycobacteria were used for this study. Anchor-derived parameters, such as cumulative normalized score, anchor order and indels were computed in a pair-wise manner, and the scores were used to compute distance/phylogenetic trees. The strength of branching was determined by bootstrap analysis. The terminal branches are clearly discernable using the distance estimates described here. In general, different measures gave similar trees except the trees based on indels. Overall the tree topology reflected the known biology of the organisms. This was also true for different strains of Escherichia coli. A new whole genome-based approach has been described here for studying evolutionary relationships among bacterial strains and species