Continuous evaluation framework for software architectures: an IoT case

Context: Design-time evaluation is essential to build the initial software architecture to be deployed. However, experts’ design-time assumptions are unlikely to remain true indefinitely in systems characterized by scale, heterogeneity, and dynamism (e.g. IoT). Experts’ design-time decisions can be thus challenged at run-time. A continuous architecture evaluation that systematically intertwines design-time and run-time evaluation is necessary. However, the literature lacks examples on how continuous evaluation can be realized and conducted. Objective: This thesis proposes the first continuous architecture evaluation framework. Method: The framework is composed of two phases: design-time and run-time evaluation. The design-time evaluation enables the necessary initial step of system design and deployment. Run-time evaluation assesses to what extent the architecture options adopted at design-time and other potential options, perform well at run-time. For that, the framework leverages techniques inspired by finance, reinforcement learning, multi-objective optimisation, and time series forecasting. The framework can actively track and proactively forecast the performance of architecture decisions and detect any detrimental changes. It can then inform deployment, refinement, and/or phasing-out decisions. We use an IoT case study to show how continuous evaluation can fundamentally guide the architect and influence the outcome of the decisions. A series of experiments is conducted to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the framework. Results: The design-time evaluation was able to evaluate the architecture options under uncertainty and shortlist candidates for further refinement at run-time. The run-time evaluation has shown to be effective. In particular, it enabled a significant improvement in overall quality (about 40-70% better than reactive and state-of-the-art approaches in some scenarios), with enhanced architecture’s stability. It was also shown to be scalable and robust to various noise levels. In addition, it provides the architect with flexibility to set a monitoring interval to profile the quality of candidates and has parameters that enable the architect to manage the trade-off between architecture stability and learning accuracy. Conclusion: The proposed continuous evaluation framework could potentially aid the architect in evaluating complex design decisions in dynamic environments

Predictors of Academic Performance for Finance Students: Women at Higher Education in the UAE

© 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The study uses data drawn from a senior finance major cohort of 78 female undergraduates at Zayed University (ZU)-UAE to investigate factors, which increase the likelihood of achieving better academic performance in an Islamic finance course based on information about socioeconomic background of female students. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: The research was conducted based on a survey designed to collect one-time individual data. Even though gender is considered as a variable affecting students’ performance as documented in the literature, it shall not be addressed in this study as the sample of our survey is limited to the female gender only. Whereas the population under investigation is a cohort of undergraduate female students enrolled at a finance course: Islamic finance and banking (BUS426) at one of the national universities in the UAE. ZU was established in 1998 by the federal government of the United Arab Emirates to educate UAE national women, in 2008 ZU started to accept male students in a separated campus building. The university is organized academically into six colleges: Arts and Sciences, Business Sciences, Communication and Media Sciences, Education, Information Technology, and University College. The primary language of instruction is English, though graduates are expected to be fully fluent in both English and Arabic (Zayed University, 2016). BUS426 is one of the major courses offered to students majoring in finance. The course is taught in English and requires mathematical skills on basic levels, but is mostly dependent on logical and critical thinking skills. Findings: The study found that among the socioeconomic variables tested that being married, having a highly educated mother and having high pre-entry qualifications were significant variables as they increase the likelihood of an “A grade” performance. Originality/value: The extent to which socioeconomic factors and lifestyle could contribute to student performance outcomes in an Arab culture setting is not clear due to the scarcity of research on this particular topic; hence the study attempts to fill this gap

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

EFFECT OF GREEN TEA ON CYTOGENETIC CHANGES INDUCED BY GIBBERELLIN A 3 IN HUMAN LYMPHOCYTE CULTURE

ABSTRACT Gibberllin A 3 is a plant growth regulator hormone used to increase the growth and flowering of fruits and vegetables. In the present work, the cytogenetic effect of different concentrations of gibberellin A 3 (0.1, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg) was studied in human lymphocyte culture. Treating cultures with gibberellin A 3 induced chromosomal aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges and DNA damage. The chromosomal aberrations include gap, break, deletion and centromeric attenuation. DNA damage was detected by comet assay and by total genomic damage method using gel electrophoresis. By increasing the concentration of gibberellin A 3 , the number of damage cells and the damage DNA spots increase. Moreover, the gel electrophoresis method showed that there was an increase of released DNA and RNA as the concentration of gibberellin A 3 increase. Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most popular bervages consumed. Green tea and its constituents were found to have a variety of therapeutic effects. The results obtained in the present investigation showed that when green tea and gibberellin A 3 were simultaneously applied in the culture media, the mutagenic changes induced by gibberellin A 3 were significantly reduced

Diversifying Software Architecture for Sustainability: A Value-based Perspective

We use real options theory to evaluate the options of diversity in design by looking at the trade-offs between the cost and long-term value of different architectural strategies under uncertainty, given a set of scenarios of interest. As part of our approach, we extend one of the widely used architecture trade-offs analysis methods (Cost-Benefit Analysis Method) to incorporate diversification. We also use a case study to demonstrate how decision makers and architects can reason about sustainability using a diversified cost-value approach