An Approach for Guiding Developers to Performance and Scalability Solutions

This thesis proposes an approach that enables developers who are novices in software performance engineering to solve software performance and scalability problems without the assistance of a software performance expert. The contribution of this thesis is the explicit consideration of the implementation level to recommend solutions for software performance and scalability problems. This includes a set of description languages for data representation and human computer interaction and a workflow

An Approach for Guiding Developers to Performance and Scalability Solutions

The quality of enterprise software applications plays a crucial role for the satisfaction of the users and the economic success of the enterprises. Software applications with unsatisfying performance and scalability are perceived by its users as low in quality, as less interesting and less attractive, and cause frustration when preventing the users from attaining their goals. This book proposes an approach for a recommendation system that enables developers who are novices in software perfor

Die Bedeutung betrieblichen Sozialkapitals für die Überwindung externer Unternehmenskrisen

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit der Bedeutung von betrieblichem Sozialkapital sowie ausgewählten Managementstrategien für die Überwindung von externen Unternehmenskrisen. Besonderes Augenmerk hinsichtlich der Krisenüberwindung wird auf die Einstellungen und Reaktionen der Mitarbeiter gelegt, welche sich im Zuge der wirtschaftlichen Verwerfungen in dem Jahr 2009 bis 2010 in der Weltwirtschaftskrise ergaben. Im empirischen Teil der Arbeit sollte der Beweis für die These angetreten werden, dass hohes betriebliches Sozialkapital diverse Faktoren beeinflusst, die einen wichtigen Bestandteil der nachhaltigen Krisenüberwindung eines Unternehmens unterstützen. Als empirisches Instrument, um diese These zu beweisen, wurde eine quantitative Fragebogenerhebung durchgeführt. Die Untersuchung fand im Hauptwerk eines metallverarbeitenden Unternehmens im Salzburger Raum statt. Da sich die Thematik dieser Arbeit mit der Situation einer externen Unternehmenskrise auseinandersetzt, wurde die Befragung zu einem Zeitpunkt durgeführt, in dem der Betrieb Kurzarbeit für das untersuchte Werk angemeldet hat

Making Sense of the Big Data Mess: Why Interdisciplinarity Matters in Smart Cities

Smart cities use vast amounts of (big) data, often creating what we call an urban "data mess". In this article, we show the diversity and complexity of data that make up this mess and outline examples of urban data processing. Furthermore, we point out problems with the sector-specific perspective that is usually taken when dealing with smart cities. We argue that a collective way of dealing with data across sectors and disciplines needs to be found. To achieve that, we advocate for more interdisciplinary cooperation between different disciplines and stakeholder groups. The Pandemic Recovery Dashboard of the City of Los Angeles gives a first impression of how this could work. We aim to show that approaching data in smart cities from an interdisciplinary angle may help deal with the data mess in smart cities - both for researchers and city developers."Smart Cities" stützen sich auf große Datenmengen ("Big Data") - wobei die unterschiedlichen Daten häufig in ungeordneter Form vorliegen (engl.: "data mess"). Im Beitrag widmen wir uns dieser Diversität im städtischen Datenbestand und skizzieren Beispiele urbaner Datenverarbeitung. Dabei verweisen wir auf Probleme und Herausforderungen einer engen, an einzelne Bereiche gebundenen Datennutzung: Aus unserer Sicht fehlt bislang ein gemeinschaftlicher, sektorübergreifender Ansatz zum Umgang mit Smart-City-Daten. Aus diesem Grund sind mehr interdisziplinäre Kooperationen erforderlich, d.h. die Zusammenarbeit unterschiedlicher Disziplinen und Stakeholder-Gruppen. Das Pandemic Recovery Dashboard der Stadt Los Angeles gibt einen ersten Eindruck davon, wie urbane Daten erfolgreich genutzt werden können. Wir argumentieren dafür, dass Daten in Smart Cities am besten in ganzheitlicher Perspektive bearbeitet und der städtische Datendschungel so übersichtlicher gestaltet werden kann - für Wissenschaft und Praxis

Neonatal screening: identification of children with 11β-hydroxylase deficiency by second-tier testing

21-Hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) is the target disease of newborn screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). We describe the additional detection of patients suffering from 11β-hydroxylase deficiency (11-OHD) by second-tier testing.Over a period of 5 years, screening for CAH was done in a total of 986,098 newborns by time-resolved immunoassay (DELFIA®) for 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP). Positive samples were subsequently analyzed in an LC-MS/MS second-tier test including 17-OHP, cortisol, 11-deoxycortisol, 4-androstenedione and 21-deoxycortisol.In addition to 78 cases of 21-OHD, 5 patients with 11-OHD were identified. Diagnostic parameters were a markedly elevated concentration of 11-deoxycortisol in the presence of a low level of cortisol. Androstenedione was also increased. In contrast to 21-OHD, concentrations of 21-deoxycortisol were normal.Steroid profiling in newborn blood samples showing positive results in immunoassays for 17-OHP allows for differentiating 21-OHD from 11-OHD. This procedure may not detect all cases of 11-OHD in the newborn population because there may be samples of affected newborns with negative results for 17-OHP in the immunoassay

A20-Deficient Mast Cells Exacerbate Inflammatory Responses In Vivo

Mast cells are implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, this notion based on studies in mast cell-deficient mice is controversial. We therefore established an in vivo model for hyperactive mast cells by specifically ablating the NF-kappa B negative feedback regulator A20. While A20 deficiency did not affect mast cell degranulation, it resulted in amplified pro-inflammatory responses downstream of IgE/Fc epsilon RI, TLRs, IL-1R, and IL-33R. As a consequence house dust mite- and IL-33-driven lung inflammation, late phase cutaneous anaphylaxis, and collagen-induced arthritis were aggravated, in contrast to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and immediate anaphylaxis. Our results provide in vivo evidence that hyperactive mast cells can exacerbate inflammatory disorders and define diseases that might benefit from therapeutic intervention with mast cell function

Star Formation in the First Galaxies I: Collapse Delayed by Lyman-Werner Radiation

We investigate the process of metal-free star formation in the first galaxies with a high-resolution cosmological simulation. We consider the cosmologically motivated scenario in which a strong molecule-destroying Lyman-Werner (LW) background inhibits effective cooling in low-mass haloes, delaying star formation until the collapse or more massive haloes. Only when molecular hydrogen (H2) can self-shield from LW radiation, which requires a halo capable of cooling by atomic line emission, will star formation be possible. To follow the formation of multiple gravitationally bound objects, at high gas densities we introduce sink particles which accrete gas directly from the computational grid. We find that in a 1 Mpc^3 (comoving) box, runaway collapse first occurs in a 3x10^7 M_sun dark matter halo at z~12 assuming a background intensity of J21=100. Due to a runaway increase in the H2 abundance and cooling rate, a self-shielding, supersonically turbulent core develops abruptly with ~10^4 M_sun in cold gas available for star formation. We analyze the formation of this self-shielding core, the character of turbulence, and the prospects for star formation. Due to a lack of fragmentation on scales we resolve, we argue that LW-delayed metal-free star formation in atomic cooling haloes is very similar to star formation in primordial minihaloes, although in making this conclusion we ignore internal stellar feedback. Finally, we briefly discuss the detectability of metal-free stellar clusters with the James Webb Space Telescope.Comment: 22 pages, 1 new figure, accepted for publication in MNRA