Reliability prediction in model driven development

Evaluating the implications of an architecture design early in the software development lifecycle is important in order to reduce costs of development. Reliability is an important concern with regard to the correct delivery of software system service. Recently, the UML Profile for Modeling Quality of Service has defined a set of UML extensions to represent dependability concerns (including reliability) and other non-functional requirements in early stages of the software development lifecycle. Our research has shown that these extensions are not comprehensive enough to support reliability analysis for model-driven software engineering, because the description of reliability characteristics in this profile lacks support for certain dynamic aspects that are essential in modeling reliability. In this work, we define a profile for reliability analysis by extending the UML 2.0 specification to support reliability prediction based on scenario specifications. A UML model specified using the profile is translated to a labelled transition system (LTS), which is used for automated reliability prediction and identification of implied scenarios; the results of this analysis are then fed back to the UML model. The result is a comprehensive framework for addressing software reliability modeling, including analysis and evolution of reliability predictions. We exemplify our approach using the Boiler System used in previous work and demonstrate how reliability analysis results can be integrated into UML models

The prevalence of abnormal chest radiograph findings among HIV infected children

Background: Human Immunodeficiency virus infected children are highly susceptible to opportunistic infections of the respiratory system which are the most common cause of morbidity and mortality. The chest radiograph is the most frequently requested examination for the evaluation of respiratory disease. Its applications include screening, diagnosis and monitoring response to medication of respiratory illnesses.Objective: To determine the prevalence of abnormal chest radiograph findings among HIV infected children. Design: Prospective cross-sectional descriptive study Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital and Mbagathi Level 5 Nairobi County hospital Subjects: The chest radiographs and clinical history of 123 HIV infected children below 15 years were studied between November 2014 and February 2015. Results: The age range of the children was 1-15 years with a median age of 24 months. The male: female ratio was 1:1.02. Normal chest radiographs were found in 54/123 (44%) while 69/123 (56%) had abnormal chest radiographic findings. Pulmonary opacities were identified in the majority of patients with abnormal chest radiographs (67%) while almost 51% showed lymphadenopathy. In the pulmonary opacities, “other infiltrate’’ (61%) was found to be more common than consolidation (39%). Pleural effusions were not common while cavitary lesions and pneumothorax were not identified. There was no significant association between the radiographic findings and the children’s age and sex. The findings of this study correlated well with similar studies in Africa. Conclusion: HIV infected children especially those below the age of 5 years, are highly susceptible to chest infections. This was seen in the high prevalence of cough and severe respiratory distress as well as the significant number of abnormal chest radiograph findings. The high prevalence of ‘other infiltrate’ in this study may indicate that the causative pathogen may not respond to standard antibiotic regimes; and further clinical studies to confirm this are required

GoalD: A Goal-Driven Deployment Framework for Dynamic and Heterogeneous Computing Environments

Context: Emerging paradigms like Internet of Things and Smart Cities utilize advanced sensing and communication infrastructures, where heterogeneity is an inherited feature. Applications targeting such environments require adaptability and context-sensitivity to uncertain availability and failures in resources and their ad-hoc networks. Such heterogeneity is often hard to predict, making the deployment process a challenging task. Objective: This paper proposes GoalD as a goal-driven framework to support autonomous deployment of heterogeneous computational resources to fulfill requirements, seen as goals, and their correlated components on one hand, and the variability space of the hosting computing and sensing environment on the other hand. Method: GoalD comprises an offline and an online stage to fulfill autonomous deployment by leveraging the use of goals. Deployment configuration strategies arise from the variability structure of the Contextual Goal Model as an underlying structure to guide autonomous planning by selecting available as well as suitable resources at runtime. Results: We evaluate GoalD on an existing exemplar from the selfadaptive systems community – the Tele Assistance Service provided by Weyns and Calinescu [1]. Furthermore, we evaluate the scalability of GoalD on a repository consisting of 430,500 artifacts. The evaluation results demonstrate the usefulness and scalability of GoalD in planning the deployment of a system with thousands of components in a few milliseconds

Planning Runtime Adaptation through Pragmatic Goal Model

Adaptivity is a capability that enables a system to choose amongst various alternatives to satisfy or maintain the satisfaction of certain requirements. The criteria of requirements satisfaction could be pragmatic and context-dependent. Contextual Goal Models (CGM) capture the power of context on banning or allowing certain alternatives to reach requirements (goals) and also deciding the quality of those alternatives with regards to certain quality measures (softgoals). It is used to depict facets of the decision making strategy and rationale of an adaptive system at the preliminary level of requirements. In this paper we argue the case for pragmatic requirements and extend the CGM with additional constructs to capture them and allow their analysis. We also develop an automated analysis which aids the planning and scheduling of tasks execution to meet pragmatic goals. Moreover, we evaluate our modelling and analysis regarding correctness and performance. Such an evaluation showed the applicability of the approach and its usefulness in aiding sensible decisions. It has also shown its capability to do so in a time short enough to suit run-time adaptation decision making

PROPTOSE EM CÃES E GATOS: ANÁLISE RETROSPECTIVA DE 64 CASOS

Foi realizado um estudo retrospectivo envolvendo 45 cães e 19 gatos com proptose traumática do bulbo ocular. Foram estudados vários aspectos, tais como sexo, raça, idade, etiologia, tempo decorrente entre a lesão e admissão, seqüelas, além daqueles relacionados ao tratamento. O principal fator etiológico verificado entre cães foi a briga, enquanto na maioria dos gatos, a causa era desconhecida. Os cães adultos sem raça definida, seguidos pelo Pinscher, Poodle, Cocker Spaniel e Boxer foram os mais acometidos. As complicações mais comuns associadas à proptose foram ceratite ulcerativa, estrabismo, hifema, quemose, hiperemia, hemorragia de conjuntiva e periocular, ressecamento e opacidade da córnea, prolapso de terceira pálpebra, além de fratura nos ossos da face. Quinze cães e apenas 2 gatos avaliados foram submetidos ao reposicionamento do bulbo e tarsorrafia. Desses animais, somente 13 cães recuperaram a visão. Conclui-se que a precocidade na admissão dos cães influencia sobremaneira a obtenção de um prognóstico mais favorável, bem como na escolha do tratamento. Os gatos apresentam pior prognóstico em relação aos cães. Proptose in dogs and cats: retrospective analyses of 64 medical records Abstract A retrospective study of 45 dogs and 19 cats with traumatic proptosis was performed. Sex, breed-specific, age, etiologic factors, time between trauma and admission, sequels and treatment were obtained for these animals. The principal etiologic factor in dogs was fight and in cats was unknown. Mongrel dogs, Pinscher, Cocker and Boxer were the most affected breeds. The common complications were corneal ulceration, strabismus, hyphema, chemosis, hyperemia, conjunctive hemorrhage, defects in the corneal epithelium, third eyelid prolapsed and facial bone fractures. Fifteen dogs and only two cats suffered repositioning followed by tarsorrhaphy. From these animals, only thirteen dogs recovered the eye vision. In conclusion, the precocity in the admission was important for a more favorable prognosis as much as the treatment choice. The cats presented worse prognosis when compared to dogs

A novel scytalidium species : understand the cellulolytic system for biomass saccharification

In order to overcome the bottlenecks related to lignocellulosic-derived sugars, the search for more efficient enzymatic cocktails, containing a broad-spectrum of specific activities, relies on an important feature. This paper describes new enzyme activities derived from the novel strain of the Scytalidium genus isolated from the Amazonas rainforest. The production of the enzymatic cocktail was induced by delignifiedhydrothermal bagasse (DHB), and yeast extract was used to improve secretion activities, resulting in a positive influence on total cellulase activity. The enzymatic cocktail produced by this novel strain contains specific activities for biomass degradation, including FPAse, xylanase and β-glucosidase. Moreover, it is capable of hydrolyzing 62% of the alkaline pretreated bagasse, surpassing in 14% the hydrolytic capability achieved by the commercial cocktail Celluclast. To this extent, the strain described here emerges as a reliable alternative to other available enzymes and, consequently, amplification of available specific substrate activities3618597FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2010/51309-

Corneal thickness measurements in ovines with ultrasonic pachymetry and noncontact specular microscopy

O propósito do presente trabalho foi avaliar os valores da espessura corneana central em córneas de ovinos sadios com o microscópio especular de não-contato e paquímetro ultra-sônico. A espessura corneana central foi determinada em 22 olhos de 11 ovinos, inicialmente com microscópio especular de não-contato (Topcon SP-2000P), seguido pelo paquímetro ultra-sônico (Nidek UP-1000). Os valores médios das medidas corneanas centrais foram 654mm e 665mm com o microscópio especular de não contato e o paquímetro ultra-sônico, respectivamente. As medidas da espessura corneana demonstraram que ambos os instrumentos são confiáveis.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the central corneal thickness values in normal ovine with Topcon SP-2000P noncontact specular microscope and ultrasonic pachymeter. Central corneal thickness was detemined in 22 eyes of 11 ovines, first with a noncontact specular microscopy (Topcon SP-2000P), then using an ultrasonic pachgmeter (Nidek UP-1000). The central corneal measurements were 654mm e 665mm with Topcon and ultrasonic pachymeter, respectively. The instruments were reliable in their measurements

Thickness and density of corneal endothelial cells in ovines

The cornea is transparent layer of the eye, transmission and refraction of light being their main functions. The endothelium, one of the cornea four layers, is a hexagonal unicellular layer that forms a barrier between the stroma and aqueous humor, obstructing the entrance of water and others solutes from the anterior chamber towards the stroma. In the regard to it, a minimum density of these cells is necessary to maintain the performance and clarity of the eye visual capacity. The main objective of the present research was the determination of the density of endothelial cells and their corneal thickness, using a noncontact specular microscope, in 22 eyes from 11 ovines. The average density of the endothelial corneal was 2726 cels/mm² and the thickness 654 µm. The males displayed a higher average density and a smaller cell area than the females.A córnea é transparente, sendo suas principais funções a transmissão e a refração da luz. Compreende quatro camadas, dentre elas, o endotélio corneano, que é constituído por uma única camada de células hexagonais interligadas, formando uma barreira entre o estroma corneano e o humor aquoso, limitando a entrada de água e solutos oriundos da câmara anterior para o estroma. Portanto, uma densidade mínima é necessária para manter a transparência e a funcionalidade corneanas. Objetivou-se determinar a densidade de células endoteliais e a espessura corneanas, utilizando-se microscopia especular de não contato, em 22 olhos provenientes de 11 ovinos. A média de densidade celular endotelial corneana foi de 2726 céls/mm2 e a espessura 654 µm. Os machos apresentaram médias de densidades superiores e áreas celulares inferiores em relação às fêmeas