A model-driven approach to broaden the detection of software performance antipatterns at runtime

Performance antipatterns document bad design patterns that have negative influence on system performance. In our previous work we formalized such antipatterns as logical predicates that predicate on four views: (i) the static view that captures the software elements (e.g. classes, components) and the static relationships among them; (ii) the dynamic view that represents the interaction (e.g. messages) that occurs between the software entities elements to provide the system functionalities; (iii) the deployment view that describes the hardware elements (e.g. processing nodes) and the mapping of the software entities onto the hardware platform; (iv) the performance view that collects specific performance indices. In this paper we present a lightweight infrastructure that is able to detect performance antipatterns at runtime through monitoring. The proposed approach precalculates such predicates and identifies antipatterns whose static, dynamic and deployment sub-predicates are validated by the current system configuration and brings at runtime the verification of performance sub-predicates. The proposed infrastructure leverages model-driven techniques to generate probes for monitoring the performance sub-predicates and detecting antipatterns at runtime.Comment: In Proceedings FESCA 2014, arXiv:1404.043

Editorial - Brothers in arms: regenerative biology and dentistry

The eCM special issue on Dental Regenerative Biology concentrates on recent key developments that will probably soon lead to significantly improved dental treatments. Progress in the understanding of the biology and technology involved provides exciting new clinical approaches to repairing and regenerating missing or damaged dental tissues. The application of stem cells has the potential to improve tissue regeneration and the use of significantly improved biomaterials can aid dental tissue healing. This editorial highlights the importance of merging the various biological and technological disciplines in order to obtain novel state-of-the-art products and generating new and original clinical concepts

Experimenting the Influence of Numerical Thresholds on Model-based Detection and Refactoring of Performance Antipatterns

Performance antipatterns are well-known bad design practices that lead to software products suffering from poor performance. A number of performance antipatterns has been defined and classified and refactoring actions have also been suggested to remove them. In the last few years, we have dedicated some effort to the detection and refactoring of performance antipatterns in software models.A specific characteristic of performance antipatterns is that they contain numerical parameters that may represent thresholds referring to either performance indices (e.g., a device utilization) or design features (e.g., number of interface operations of a software component). In this paper, we analyze the influence of such thresholds on the capability of detecting and refactoring performance antipatterns. In particular, (i) we analyze how a set of detected antipatterns may change while varying the threshold values and (ii) we discuss the influence of thresholds on the complexity of refactoring actions. With the help of a leading example, we quantify the influence using precision and recall metrics

Probabilistic Analysis of Binary Sessions

We study a probabilistic variant of binary session types that relate to a class of Finite-State Markov Chains. The probability annotations in session types enable the reasoning on the probability that a session terminates successfully, for some user-definable notion of successful termination. We develop a type system for a simple session calculus featuring probabilistic choices and show that the success probability of well-typed processes agrees with that of the sessions they use. To this aim, the type system needs to track the propagation of probabilistic choices across different sessions

Involvement of caspace-3 in the cleavage of terminal transferase.

To investigate the in vivo role of caspase-3 in Terminal Transferase metabolism DMSO-treated RPMI-8402, a human pre-T cell line was used. In DMSO treated samples3H-dGTP incorporation and TdT phosphorylation occurs after 4 hours of treatment. After 8 hours cells undergo TdT proteolysis in addition to its inactivation. The cleavage of TdT into 32- and 58-KDa proteolytic fragments occurred simultaneously with the activation of Caspase-3, but preceded changes associated with the apoptotic process described after 48 hours of treatment. The Caspase-3 peptide inhibitor V, used as a specific inhibitor, prevented TdT proteolysis prolonging its activity and rescued cells from apoptosis. Our experiments suggest that TdT is a nuclear substrate for Caspase-3, the main apoptotic effector protease in many cell types, and that the cleavage of TdT represents a primary step in a signal cascade leading to pre-T cell apoptosis

Asertividad y satisfacción marital en una muestra de parejas heterosexuales de Mendoza

El presente trabajo de investigación tuvo como principal objetivo, aportar conocimiento científico acerca de la asertividad y la satisfacción marital en los miembros de una muestra de parejas heterosexuales de la provincia de Mendoza, teniendo como hipótesis, que existe asociación entre los niveles de asertividad y los niveles de satisfacción marital de los miembros de las parejas. El enfoque de la investigación fue cuantitativo, siendo un estudio no experimental-transversal, con alcance descriptivo- correlacional. La muestra fue no probabilística-intencional, compuesta por los miembros de 30 parejas heterosexuales mayores a 24 años que tuviesen al menos un hijo en común y que hubieran compartido al menos 3 años de convivencia o matrimonio. Para responder a los objetivos de la misma se procedió a la administración de las siguientes escalas: escala de interés, escala de asertividad de Rathus (R.A.S.) y cuestionario de satisfacción marital de Lazarus. En el análisis de los datos se obtuvieron estadísticos descriptivos tales como media estadística, desviación estándar, máximos, mínimos, frecuencias absolutas y frecuencias porcentuales; a su vez, se llevaron a cabo pruebas de normalidad y diferentes pruebas de hipótesis. Es así que se obtuvo un puntaje medio de asertividad, mientras que el nivel de satisfacción fue alto. Al verificar la asociación entre dichas variables, se observó que, si bien existe una correlación positiva muy débil, la misma no es significativa. Por lo tanto, se concluyó con que no es posible asumir la asociación entre las variables, lo que sugiere rechazar la hipótesis de la presente investigación.The main objective of this research was to provide scientific knowledge about assertiveness and marital satisfaction in members of a sample of heterosexual couples in Mendoza. The hypothesis was there is an association between levels of assertiveness and levels of satisfaction marriage of the members of the couples. The focus of the research was quantitative, with non-experimental-transversal design and descriptive-correlational scope. The sample was non-probabilistic-intentional and it was composed by the members of 30 couples over 24 years who had, at least, one child in common and who had shared at least 3 years of coexistence or marriage. The instruments used were: scale of interest, Rathus assertiveness scale (R.A.S.) and Lazarus marital satisfaction questionnaire. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics were obtained such as statistical mean, standard deviation, maximums, minimums, absolute frequencies and percentage frequencies. Likewise, tests of normality and different hypothesis tests were carried out. Thus, a middle score of assertiveness was obtained, while the level of satisfaction was high. When verifying the association between these variables, it was observed that although there is a very weak positive correlation, but it is not significant. Therefore, it was concluded that it is not possible to assume the association between the variables, which suggests rejecting the hypothesis of the present investigation.Fil: Trubiani, María Yanel

Immunomodulating Profile of Dental Mesenchymal Stromal Cells: A Comprehensive Overview

: Dental mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells present in dental tissues, characterized by plastic adherence in culture and specific surface markers (CD105, CD73, CD90, STRO-1, CD106, and CD146), common to all other MSC subtypes. Dental pulp, periodontal ligament, apical papilla, human exfoliated deciduous teeth, alveolar bone, dental follicle, tooth germ, and gingiva are all different sources for isolation and expansion of MSCs. Dental MSCs have regenerative and immunomodulatory properties; they are scarcely immunogenic but actively modulate T cell reactivity. in vitro studies and animal models of autoimmune diseases have provided evidence for the suppressive effects of dental MSCs on peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation, clearance of apoptotic cells, and promotion of a shift in the Treg/Th17 cell ratio. Appropriately stimulated MSCs produce anti-inflammatory mediators, such as transforming growth factor-\u3b2 (TGF-\u3b2), prostaglandin E2, and interleukin (IL)-10. A particular mechanism through which MSCs exert their immunomodulatory action is via the production of extracellular vesicles containing such anti-inflammatory mediators. Recent studies demonstrated MSC-mediated inhibitory effects both on monocytes and activated macrophages, promoting their polarization to an anti-inflammatory M2-phenotype. A growing number of trials focusing on MSCs to treat autoimmune and inflammatory conditions are ongoing, but very few use dental tissue as a cellular source. Recent results suggest that dental MSCs are a promising therapeutic tool for immune-mediated disorders. However, the exact mechanisms responsible for dental MSC-mediated immunosuppression remain to be clarified, and impairment of dental MSCs immunosuppressive function in inflammatory conditions and aging must be assessed before considering autologous MSCs or their secreted vesicles for therapeutic purposes

Approaching the Model-Driven Generation of Feedback to Remove Software Performance Flaws

Abstract—The problem of interpreting results of perfor-mance analysis and providing feedback on software models to overcome performance flaws is probably the most critical open issue in the field of software performance engineering. Automation in this step would help to introduce perfor-mance validation as an integrated activity in the software lifecycle, without dramatically affecting the daily practices of software developers. In this paper we approach the problem with model-driven techniques, on which we build a general solution. Basing on the concept of performance antipatterns, that are bad practices in software modeling leading to performance flaws, we introduce metamodels and transformations that can support the whole process of flaw detection and solution. The approach that we propose is notation-independent and can be embedded in any (existing or future) concrete modeling notation by using weaving models and automatically generated model transformations. Finally, we discuss the issues opened from this work and the future achievements that are at the hand in this domain thanks to model-driven techniques

Dental pulp stem cells bioadhesivity: evaluation on mineral-trioxide-aggregate.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the capacity to self-renew. They have been discovered in many adult tissues, including teeth. Dental Pulp Mesenchymal Stem Cells (DP-MSCs) are involved in dental repair by activation of growth factors, released after caries and have the ability to regenerate a dentin-pulp-like complex. The molecular/cellular research gives the possibility to grow new tissues and biological structures for clinical applications, providing cells for therapies including cell transplantation and tissue engineering. In this study DP-MSCs were derived from dental pulp of 10 donors. To evaluate material toxicity, after in vitro isolation, the cells were seeded on mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). Initial light microscopy investigation of cells revealed no signs of cell death due to toxicity or infection, on the contrary the scaffolds supplied an excellent support for cell structures, the cells proliferated and adhered to substrate. Similar observation was seen in scanning electron microscopy, in particular the cells had proliferated and spread, covering a considerable part of the surface of the biomaterials investigated, with an elaborate form of attachment, in fact, the cells formed a continuous layer on the upper surface of the MTA. In conclusion, the aim of this study is to demonstrate that DP-MSCs combined with MTA could be a potential source for regenerative medicine, encouraging further study to evaluate the new-dentin formation