Partial purification and characterization of alkaline proteases from the Black Sea anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) digestive tract

Alkaline proteases from the digestive tract of anchovy were partially purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, dialysis and Sephadex G-75 gel filtration. The purification fold and yield were 6.23 and 4.49%, respectively. The optimum activities of partially purified alkaline proteases were observed at 60°C and at pH 11.0. The alkaline proteases were stable within the temperature range of 40 to 50°C and pH range of 9.0 to 11.0. They were inhibited by the serine-protease inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and trypsin specific inhibitor benzamidine, but were not inhibited by the β-mercaptoethanol. The enzymes were slightly activated by metal ions such as Na+ and Ba2+ and inhibited by Cu2+, Zn2+, K+ and Mn2+ at different degrees. The molecular weight of the partially purified enzyme was 24 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).Key words: Alkaline proteases, Engraulis encrasicholus, purification, characterization, digestive tract

Results from an ethnographically-informed study in the context of test driven development

Background: Test-driven development (TDD) is an iterative software development technique where unit tests are defined before production code. Previous studies fail to analyze the values, beliefs, and assumptions that inform and shape TDD. Aim: We designed and conducted a qualitative study to understand the values, beliefs, and assumptions of TDD. In particular, we sought to understand how novice and professional software developers, arranged in pairs (a driver and a pointer), perceive and apply TDD. Method: 14 novice software developers, i.e., graduate students in Computer Science at the University of Basilicata, and six professional software developers (with one to 10 years work experience) participated in our ethnographicallyinformed study. We asked the participants to implement a new feature for an existing software written in Java. We immersed ourselves in the context of the study, and collected data by means of contemporaneous field notes, audio recordings, and other artifacts. Results: A number of insights emerge from our analysis of the collected data, the main ones being: (i) refactoring (one of the phases of TDD) is not performed as often as the process requires and it is considered less important than other phases, (ii) the most important phase is implementation, (iii) unit tests are almost never up-to-date, (iv) participants first build a sort of mental model of the source code to be implemented and only then write test cases on the basis of this model; and (v) apart from minor differences, professional developers and students applied TDD in a similar fashion. Conclusions: Developers write quick-and-dirty production code to pass the tests and ignore refactoring.Copyright is held by the owner/auther(s)

Hypoglossal-Facial Nerve Reconstruction Using a Y-Tube-Conduit Reduces Aberrant Synkinetic Movements of the Orbicularis Oculi and Vibrissal Muscles in Rats

The facial nerve is the most frequently damaged nerve in head and neck trauma. Patients undergoing facial nerve reconstruction often complain about disturbing abnormal synkinetic movements of the facial muscles (mass movements, synkinesis) which are thought to result from misguided collateral branching of regenerating motor axons and reinnervation of inappropriate muscles. Here, we examined whether use of an aorta Y-tube conduit during reconstructive surgery after facial nerve injury reduces synkinesis of orbicularis oris (blink reflex) and vibrissal (whisking) musculature. The abdominal aorta plus its bifurcation was harvested (N = 12) for Y-tube conduits. Animal groups comprised intact animals (Group 1), those receiving hypoglossal-facial nerve end-to-end coaptation alone (HFA; Group 2), and those receiving hypoglossal-facial nerve reconstruction using a Y-tube (HFA-Y-tube, Group 3). Videotape motion analysis at 4 months showed that HFA-Y-tube group showed a reduced synkinesis of eyelid and whisker movements compared to HFA alone

Interaction between 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms on HPA axis reactivity in preschoolers

This study examined whether the interaction between the serotonin transporter promoter region (5-HTTLPR) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphisms was associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to stress. A community sample of 144 preschool-aged children was genotyped and exposed to stress-inducing laboratory tasks. Salivary cortisol was obtained at four time points during a standardized laboratory assessment before and after stressors involving separation from a parent and frustrating tasks. Children homozygous for the short-5-HTTLPR allele and carrying the Met-BDNF allele evidenced a significantly lower initial level of cortisol, followed by a positive increase in cortisol in response to the laboratory stressors. In contrast, children who were homozygous for the short-5-HTTLPR and the Val-BDNF alleles evidenced a greater decline in cortisol in response to the laboratory stressors. Findings indicated that the BDNF gene moderated the association between 5-HTTLPR and children\u27s biological stress responses, suggesting that epistatic effects play a role in individual differences in stress regulation, and possibly genetic vulnerability to stress-related disorders. © 2009 Elsevier B.V

Exact accelerating solitons in nonholonomic deformation of the KdV equation with two-fold integrable hierarchy

Recently proposed nonholonomic deformation of the KdV equation is solved through inverse scattering method by constructing AKNS-type Lax pair. Exact and explicit N-soliton solutions are found for the basic field and the deforming function showing an unusual accelerated (decelerated) motion. A two-fold integrable hierarchy is revealed, one with usual higher order dispersion and the other with novel higher nonholonomic deformations.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, latex. Exact explicit exact N-soliton solutions (through ISM) for KdV field u and deforming function w are included. Version to be published in J. Phys.

An external replication on the effects of test-driven development using a multi-site blind analysis approach

Context: Test-driven development (TDD) is an agile practice claimed to improve the quality of a software product, as well as the productivity of its developers. A previous study (i.e., baseline experiment) at the University of Oulu (Finland) compared TDD to a test-last development (TLD) approach through a randomized controlled trial. The results failed to support the claims. Goal: We want to validate the original study results by replicating it at the University of Basilicata (Italy), using a different design. Method: We replicated the baseline experiment, using a crossover design, with 21 graduate students. We kept the settings and context as close as possible to the baseline experiment. In order to limit researchers bias, we involved two other sites (UPM, Spain, and Brunel, UK) to conduct blind analysis of the data. Results: The Kruskal-Wallis tests did not show any significant difference between TDD and TLD in terms of testing effort (p-value = .27), external code quality (p-value = .82), and developers' productivity (p-value = .83). Nevertheless, our data revealed a difference based on the order in which TDD and TLD were applied, though no carry over effect. Conclusions: We verify the baseline study results, yet our results raises concerns regarding the selection of experimental objects, particularly with respect to their interaction with the order in which of treatments are applied. We recommend future studies to survey the tasks used in experiments evaluating TDD. Finally, to lower the cost of replication studies and reduce researchers' bias, we encourage other research groups to adopt similar multi-site blind analysis approach described in this paper.This research is supported in part by the Academy of Finland Project 278354

POLA INTERAKSI SOSIAL ANTAR PEDAGANG DI WILAYAH AMPEL SURABAYA

Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pola interaksi sosial antar pedagang di wilayah Ampel, sekaligus untuk mengetahui faktor pendukung dan penghambat interaksi tersebut. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif. Teknik yang digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data dalam penelitian ini adalah observasi, wawancara mendalam, dan dokumentasi. Analisis data dalam penelitian ini mengacu pada model analisis interaktif yang diajukan Huberman dan Miles, dengan tahapan: reduksi data, penyajian data, dan verifikasi data. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, pola interaksi sosial anta rpedagang adalah berupa kerjasama dan persaingan. Kerjasama perdagangan tersebut terjadi secara spontan, sedangkan bentuk persaingannya adalah atas dasar persaingan ekonomi. Sistem perdagangan di wilayah Ampel terfragmentasi atas dasar perbedaan etnis. Etnis Arab yang merupakan etnis mayoritas di wilayah Ampel mendominasi aktivitas perdagangan dan menduduki posisi tertinggi dalam hierarki etnis penguasa lahan perdagangan di wilayah Ampel. Etnis Arab berperan sebagai pemilik modal, sedangkan etnis Madura dan Jawa berperan sebagai buruh. Faktor yang mendorong pola interaksi sosial antar pedagang di wilayah Ampel adalah (1) kebutuhan akan pekerjaan dan tenaga kerja; (2) banyaknya pengunjung atau peziarah; dan (3) adanya rasa saling percaya. Sedangkan faktor yang menghambatnya adalah (1) adanya perbedaan etnis; (2) adanya strata etnis dalam penguasaan perdagangan, dan (3) persaingan antar pedagang. Kata Kunci: interaksi sosial, pedagang. Abstract This study aims to determine the patterns of social interaction among traders in Ampel region, and to identify factors supporting and inhibiting the interaction.This research use a qualitative study. The technique used to collect the data in this study is the observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. Analysis of the data in this study refers to the interactive model proposed Huberman and Miles, with stages: data reduction, data presentation, and data verification.Based on the research results, the pattern of social interaction among traders is in the form of cooperation and competition. The trade cooperation comes spontaneity, while the competition is due to economic competition. Ampel trading system in the area is fragmented on the basis of ethnic differences. Ethnic Arabs is ethnic majority in the area dominating trading activity and occupying the highest position in the hierarchy of the ruling ethnic trade area in the Ampel region. Arabs ethnic as owners of capital, while the Madurese and Javanese role as laborers.Factors that encourage social interaction among traders in the Ampel region are (1) the need for employment and labor; (2) many can inhibit of visitors or pilgrims; and (3) the existence of trust. While the factors that hinders are (1) the existence of ethnic differences; and (2) the ethnic stratification in the trade domination (3) competition among traders. Keywords: social interaction, traders

Lessons learned from a partial replication of an experiment in the context of a software engineering course

Replications are an integral component of experimentation through which the validity and reliability of the observed outcome in a previous experiment can be probed. In a strict replication, the experiment is executed in the same conditions as the original by following the same protocol and thus the evidence is strengthened statistically by means of increased sample size. Another objective for running replications is generalizing the experimental results beyond the limitations of one study and its context. For this purpose, certain elements of the original experiment, such as experimenters, experimental objects, and construct operationalization are altered and their impact is investigated. This paper presents lessons learned from a replication that was conducted as a part of an undergraduate university course in Serbia. The focus of the experiment was investigating the effectiveness of writing tests during the development process. The original experiment investigated the effectiveness of test-first programming and was conducted in Italy (Politecnico di Torino) with thirdyear computer science students during an intensive Java course. Lessons learned from this partial replication are that the given task descriptions and structure has an impact on the experiment outcome and that variations in metrics collection can occur when multiple researchers analyse the data, which requires metrics consolidation

Students’ and Professionals’ Perceptions of Test-driven Development: A Focus Group Study

We have conducted a qualitative investigation on test-driven development (TDD) with focus groups to develop insights on the opinions of developers using TDD regarding the unintuitive process involved, its claimed effects, as well as the context factors that can facilitate (or hinder) its application. In particular, we conducted two focus group sessions: one with professionals and another with Master students in Computer Science. We used thematic analysis template (TAT) method for identifying patterns, themes, and interpretations in gathered data. We obtained a number of results that can be summarized as follows: (i) applying TDD without knowing advanced unit testing techniques can be difficult; (ii) refactoring (one of the phases of TDD) is not done as often as the process requires; (iii) there is a need for live feedback to let developers understand if TDD is being applied correctly; and (iv) the usefulness of TDD hinges on task and domain to which it is applied to

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC MODEL OPTIMIZATION IN DIGITALIZATION OF ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE: YEDIKULE FORTRESS

The idea of "digitalization of architectural heritage" has recently gained prominence to represent architectural and historical assets. With all these potentials, this study aims to create optimized models that can be used in serious gaming environments by presenting a method of photogrammetry. As a case study, Yedikule Fortress and its surroundings, which have a multi-layered structure that includes many cultural aspects such as Byzantine, Ottoman, and Republican periods in the historical process, have been studied within the scope of digitizing the architectural heritage to create an optimized model for gaming environments. The study was methodologically constructed in three phases: Photogrammetry, polygon modeling, and low poly/high poly baking process. The fortress and its surroundings are modeled using a high-detail point cloud and a high-poly mesh using aerial photogrammetry. The high-poly model was taken as a reference and transferred into a low-poly model as a mesh map, texture, and light characteristics. This allowed the high poly model to operate more efficiently and effectively in game engines. As a result, the study created a detailed and optimized model for the game engines to produce serious games specific to light and texture data, to be used on devices that support mixed reality (MR) technologies