Cohesion Metrics for Improving Software Quality

Abstract Software product metrics aim at measuring the quality of software. Modu- larity is an essential factor in software quality. In this work, metrics related to modularity and especially cohesion of the modules, are considered. The existing metrics are evaluated, and several new alternatives are proposed. The idea of cohesion of modules is that a module or a class should consist of related parts. The closely related principle of coupling says that the relationships between modules should be minimized. First, internal cohesion metrics are considered. The relations that are internal to classes are shown to be useless for quality measurement. Second, we consider external relationships for cohesion. A detailed analysis using design patterns and refactorings confirms that external cohesion is a better quality indicator than internal. Third, motivated by the successes (and problems) of external cohesion metrics, another kind of metric is proposed that represents the quality of modularity of software. This metric can be applied to refactorings related to classes, resulting in a refactoring suggestion system. To describe the metrics formally, a notation for programs is developed. Because of the recursive nature of programming languages, the properties of programs are most compactly represented using grammars and formal lan- guages. Also the tools that were used for metrics calculation are described.Siirretty Doriast

Kertooko myynti, kuunteleeko projekti? : Kehitysehdotuksia myynti- ja toimitusprosessien väliseen rajapintaan

Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on ollut selvittää myyntiprojektien ja toimitusprojektien välistä tiedonkulkua, sekä löytää mahdollisia ongelmia ja haasteita tiedon siirtymisessä. Tutkimus tehtiin Logica Suomi Oy:lle ja sen empiirinen osuus toteutettiin kevättalvella 2011. Tutkimuksessa sovellettiin pääasiassa Prince2-projektinhallintamenetelmistöä ja kohdeyrityksen omaa, kansainvälistä, projektinhallintaohjeistusta. Opinnäytetyön teoreettisessa osuudessa käydään läpi projektityöhön liittyviä teorioita. Projektiorganisaation malli esitellään organisaatioteorioiden avulla. Projekti ja sen tyypilliset ominaisuudet käydään läpi kahden kaupallisen projektihallintamenetelmän näkökulmasta. Projektinhallinnan historiaa sivutaan lyhyen katsauksen avulla. Kaksi projektinhallintamenetelmää, PMBOK ja Prince2, esitellään yleisellä tasolla. Myös projektisalkun hallintaa tarkastellaan lyhyesti. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osa toteutettiin käyttäen kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen tapaustutkimusmenetelmää eli case studya. Tiedonhankintamenetelmänä käytettiin puolistrukturoitua haastattelua, jota täydennettiin perehtymällä erilaisiin yrityksen sisäisiin projektimateriaaleihin ja ohjeistuksiin. Näiden lisäksi hyödynnettiin aihepiirin muuta kirjallisuutta ja julkaisuja. Tutkimuksen avulla löydettiin tekijöitä, joilla on olennainen vaikutus myynti- ja toimitusprojektien välisessä tiedonkulussa. Haastattelujen avulla löydettiin lisäksi kehittämisideoita sekä käytännön vinkkejä helpottamaan projektipäälliköiden työtehtäviä. Tutkimukseen liittyy myös luottamuksellinen osuus.Purpose of this study was to evaluate the flow of information between the sales and delivery projects, as well as to identify potential problems and challenges of communications of those projects. The study was carried out to Logica Suomi Oy and its empirical part was conducted in spring 2011. The study applied mainly in the PRINCE2 project management methodology and Company’s own, international project management guidance. The theoretical part presents some of the project related theories. The model of project organization is presented using an organizational theory. Project and its typical characteristics are discussed from two commercial project management methodology perspectives. A brief overview of project management history is presented. Two project management methodologies, PMBOK and PRINCE2, are presented in general terms. Also, project portfolio management is briefly overviewed. The empirical part of this study was carried out using qualitative research and case study method. Methods of gathering information were semi structured interviews which was supplemented by studying the various company's internal project materials and guidelines. In addition other literature and publications were used. This study found factors that have an impact on the flow of information between the sale and the delivery projects. Interviews showed also developing ideas and practical tips to improve the project managers' work. There is a confidential section in this study

Rule-Based Monitors and Policy Invariants for Guaranteeing Mobile Code Security

We consider ensuring the security of executed mobile code by applying runtime monitoring. Of the many approaches for code security, the runtime monitoring approach is perhaps the most general and flexible. We have formerly implemented a rule-based language for describing runtime security policies, and now we discuss the verification of those policies. A security policy can be considered as a specification that restricts the execution of a program in some way. These restrictions can be connected to the program state and the execution history. In this paper, we introduce invariant expressions for our security monitor descriptions, and describe a methodology for proving that the monitor preserves its invariant. Our invariant expressions describe the true meaning of security monitor and relate the monitor state to the execution history and current state of the monitored program. The advantage of our approach is that we can prove specific monitors to guarantee all monitored programs to preserve such properties that cannot in general be effectively proved or disproved of all possible executions of any program. &nbsp;</p

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness and asthma during oral immunotherapy for egg or peanut allergy in children

Background Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and asthma are frequently present in children with food allergy. We assessed BHR in children receiving oral immunotherapy (OIT) for persistent egg or peanut allergy and examined whether OIT affects asthma control. Methods Methacholine challenge testing was performed in 89 children with persistent egg or peanut allergy diagnosed by double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge and 80 control children without food allergy. Of the 89 food-allergic children, 50 started OIT for egg allergy and 39 for peanut allergy. Sensitization to aeroallergens was evaluated by skin prick testing. Forty of the 89 children with regular controller treatment for asthma underwent methacholine challenge testing and 34 measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) at baseline and after 6-12 months of OIT. Results Methacholine challenge testing revealed significant BHR in 29/50 children (58%) with egg allergy, 15/39 children (38%) with peanut allergy, and 6/80 controls (7.5%). The mean cumulative dose of methacholine causing a 20% fall in FEV1 differed significantly between the egg and peanut-allergic versus the control children (1009 mu g, 1104 mu g, and 2068 mu g, respectively, p < 0.001). Egg or peanut OIT did not affect lung function, the degree of BHR or FeNO levels in children with asthma and had no adverse effect on asthma control. Lung function or BHR did not associate with the OIT outcome. Conclusion BHR was significantly more frequent in children with persistent egg or peanut allergy than in children without food allergy. Oral immunotherapy did not increase BHR and was safe for children on regular asthma medication.Peer reviewe

Observational study of inhaled corticosteroid treatment for improved expiratory variability index in steroid-naive asthmatic children

Non peer reviewe

Cut-off values to evaluate exercise-induced asthma in eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation test for children

Background and Aim The eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (EVH) testing is a diagnostic tool for diagnostics of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction; while the testing has become more common among children, data on the test's feasibility among children remain limited. Our aim was to investigate EVH testing feasibility among children, diagnostic testing cut-off values, and which factors affect testing outcomes. Methods We recruited 134 patients aged 10-16 years with a history of exercise-induced dyspnoea and 100 healthy control children to undergo 6-min EVH testing. Testing feasibility was assessed by the children's ability to achieve >= 70% of the target minute ventilation of 30 times forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). Bronchoconstriction was assessed as a minimum of 8%, 10%, 12%, 15% or 20% fall in FEV1. Patient characteristics were correlated with EVH outcomes. Results Overall, 98% of the children reached >= 70%, 88% reached >= 80%, 79% reached >= 90% and 62% reached >= 100% of target ventilation in EVH testing; of children with a history of exercise-induced dyspnoea, the decline percentages were as follows: 24% (>= 8% fall), 17% (>= 10% fall), 10% (>= 12% fall), 6% (>= 15% fall) and 5% (>= 20% fall) in FEV1, compared to 11%, 4%, 3%, 1% and 0% among the healthy controls, respectively. Healthy controls and boys performed testing at higher ventilation rates (p <.05). Conclusion Eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation testing is feasible among children aged 10-16 years and has diagnostic value in evaluating exercise-induced dyspnoea among children. A minimum 10% fall in FEV1 is a good diagnostic cut-off value. Disease status appears to be important covariates.Peer reviewe

CIP2A Promotes Proliferation of Spermatogonial Progenitor Cells and Spermatogenesis in Mice

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a critical regulator of protein serine/threonine phosphorylation. However, the physiological and developmental roles of different PP2A complexes are very poorly understood. Here, we show that a newly characterized PP2A inhibitory protein CIP2A is co-expressed with ki-67 and with self-renewal protein PLZF in the spermatogonial progenitor cell (SPC) population in the testis. CIP2A and PLZF expression was shown also to correlate Ki-67 expression in human testicular spermatogonia. Functionally, CIP2A mutant mouse testes exhibited smaller number of PLZF-positive SPCs and reduced sperm counts. Moreover, seminiferous tubuli cells isolated from CIP2A mutant mice showed reduced expression of Plzf and other renewal genes Oct-4 and Nanog at mRNA level. However, PLZF-deficient testes did not show altered CIP2A expression. Importantly, spermatogonia-specific restoration of CIP2A expression rescued PLZF expression and sperm production defects observed in CIP2A mutant mice. Taken together, these results reveal first physiological function for an emerging human oncoprotein CIP2A, and provide insights into maintenance of PLZF-positive progenitors. Moreover, demonstration that CIP2A expression can be systematically inhibited without severe consequences to normal mouse development and viability may have clinical relevance regarding targeting of oncogenic CIP2A for future cancer therapies

Diversification and obfuscation techniques for software security: A systematic literature review

Context: Diversification and obfuscation are promising techniques for securing software and protecting computers from harmful malware. The goal of these techniques is not removing the security holes, but making it difficult for the attacker to exploit security vulnerabilities and perform successful attacks.Objective: There is an increasing body of research on the use of diversification and obfuscation techniques for improving software security; however, the overall view is scattered and the terminology is unstructured. Therefore, a coherent review gives a clear statement of state-of-the-art, normalizes the ongoing discussion and provides baselines for future research.Method: In this paper, systematic literature review is used as the method of the study to select the studies that discuss diversification/obfuscation techniques for improving software security. We present the process of data collection, analysis of data, and report the results.Results: As the result of the systematic search, we collected 357 articles relevant to the topic of our interest, published between the years 1993 and 2017. We studied the collected articles, analyzed the extracted data from them, presented classification of the data, and enlightened the research gaps.Conclusion: The two techniques have been extensively used for various security purposes and impeding various types of security attacks. There exist many different techniques to obfuscate/diversify programs, each of which targets different parts of the programs and is applied at different phases of software development life-cycle. Moreover, we pinpoint the research gaps in this field, for instance that there are still various execution environments that could benefit from these two techniques, including cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and trusted computing. We also present some potential ideas on applying the techniques on the discussed environments.</p

Effect of inactivated nature-derived microbial composition on mouse immune system

Introduction: The hygiene hypothesis suggests that decrease in early life infections due to increased societal-level hygiene standards subjects one to allergic and autoimmune diseases. In this report, we have studied the effect of sterilized forest soil and plant-based material on mouse immune system and gut microbiome. Methods: Inbred C57Bl/6 mice maintained in normal sterile environment were subjected to autoclaved forest soil-derived powder in their bedding for 1 h a day for 3 weeks. Immune response was measured by immune cell flow cytometry, serum cytokine enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis. Furthermore, the mouse gut microbiome was analyzed by sequencing. Results: When compared to control mice, mice treated with soil-derived powder had decreased level of pro-inflammatory cytokines namely interleukin (IL)-17F and IL-21 in the serum. Furthermore, splenocytes from mice treated with soil-derived powder expressed less IL-1b, IL-5, IL-6, IL-13, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) upon cell activation. Gut microbiome appeared to be stabilized by the treatment. Conclusions: These results provide insights on the effect of biodiversity on murine immune system in sterile environment. Subjecting mice to soil-based plant and microbe structures appears to elicit immune response that could be beneficial, for example, in type 2 inflammation-related diseases, that is, allergic diseases.Peer reviewe