The testability of Ada programs

Software development for NASA's Space Station poses a significant problem; considered the most difficult by some. The difficulty is the magnitude and complexity of the required software. The concerns raised by consideration of the requirements for testing and checkout procedures for the Space Station software are addressed. In particular, it addresses the use of Ada in the development of widely distributed yet closely coordinated processing

Effects of lipids on the water sorption, glass transition and structural strength of carbohydrate-protein systems

peer-reviewedEncapsulant systems are gaining wide practical interest due to their functional and nutritional properties. This paper was focusing on understanding structural relaxations in that systems near glass transition temperature. Freeze-dried trehalose-whey protein isolate-sunflower oil systems with various ratios of the last were used as a carbohydrate-protein-lipid food model. The Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB) water sorption relationship was used as a tool to model water sorption isotherms. The glass transition temperature was obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Structural α-relaxation temperatures were measured by dynamical mechanical analyses (DMA), dielectric analysis (DEA) and combined to cover a broad range for strength assessment. The microstructure was characterized by optical light microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The C1 and C2 constants for Williams-Landel-Ferry (WLF) equation and structural strength parameter were calculated for each system. The effect of sunflower oil and water contents on strength of carbohydrate-protein system was analyzed. Strength shows decreasing with increasing of lipid concentration in the mixtures and more complex dependence on the water content in a system.This investigation was supported by the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) project “Formulation and Design for Food Structure and Stability” funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (11-F-001), coordinated by prof. Y.H. Roos, UCC, Ireland and by the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) project “Developing the next generation of high protein spray dried dairy powders with enhanced hydration properties” (15-F-679) funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, coordinated by Dr. Mark Auty, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Co. Cork, Ireland

Foresight and action learning supporting transition: An account of practice

Integrating foresight into corporations has proved to be challenging. This account of practice reports on the introduction of futures and foresight (FF) teaching content into an executive Masters programme. The FF contentwas further linked to and provided a background for action learning sets. The purpose was to identify how introducing distant time horizons would help participants to adapt and change their perspectives in problem solving and professional development. The report describes how FF was incorporated across the programme and used to develop insightful conversations in the action learning sets. Citing two case examples, the authors reflect on how participants responded to these new elements and offer insights into the value of introducing FF as an interdisciplinary element in a programme

Teacher Fellow Accreditation – A madrigal of voices! But is it the right tune? Tensions of standardisation, engagement and neoliberalism

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact competency frameworks as standardisation can have on the employee engagement of academic staff within higher education (HE) through their employment as managerial tools. Design/methodology/approach A literature review is conducted from which the conditions for effective competency frameworks are evaluated and the influence of changes in the HE environment in the form of political agendas and tight resources are explored. Findings This paper provides insights into the dynamics of public service modernisation and the tensions between the dominant discourse of managerialism and the degree of agency afforded to professional academics. It highlights the relevance of informal peer relationships in setting the climate to generate collegial bonding and professional engagement that underpin successful teacher fellowship accreditations. It further highlights the key role managers play in this process and provides a conceptual framework highlighting the dynamics and combined effect of employee engagement and competency frameworks set within complex HE environment. Practical implications This paper brings together the prerequisites for effective implementation of competency frameworks to implement successful employee engagement strategies set within the complexities of the HE context, which has not been studied to date. Armed with such insights, Human Resource Development (HRD) departments and universities can implement competency assessments that generate greater staff engagement. Originality/value The paper provides a critical approach in reviewing the impact of Continued Professional Development and its link to professional status and thus helps British Universities and others to understand how the mechanisms at work affect engagement levels of academic staff. Armed with this depth of understanding of how the change initiative works, with whom and under what circumstances, universities will be better able to meet target UK Professional Standards Framework membership levels required by the higher education academy (HEA) and, subsequently, the HEA to meet their targets for the government

Vulnerability of the British swine industry to Classical Swine Fever

Classical swine fever (CSF) is a notifiable, highly contagious viral disease of swine which results in severe welfare and economic consequences (e.g. barrier to trade) in affected countries. In order to improve preparedness for disease incursion, it is critical to have some understanding of how vulnerable a CSF-free swine industry may be and, thus, evaluate how CSF would spread should it be introduced

A dinuclear ruthenium(II) phototherapeutic that targets duplex and quadruplex DNA

With the aim of developing a sensitizer for photodynamic therapy, a previously reported luminescent dinuclear complex that functions as a DNA probe in live cells was modified to produce a new isostructural derivative containing RuII(TAP)2 fragments (TAP = 1,4,5,8- tetraazaphenanthrene). The structure of the new complex has been confirmed by a variety of techniques including single crystal X-ray analysis. Unlike its parent, the new complex displays RuL-based 3MLCT emission in both MeCN and water. Results from electrochemical studies and emission quenching experiments involving guanosine monophosphate are consistent with an excited state located on a TAP moiety. This hypothesis is further supported by detailed DFT calculations, which take into account solvent effects on excited state dynamics. Cell-free steady-state and time-resolved optical studies on the interaction of the new complex with duplex and quadruplex DNA show that the complex binds with high affinity to both structures and indicate that its photoexcited state is also quenched by DNA, a process that is accompanied by the generation of the guanine radical cation sites as photo-oxidization products. Like the parent complex, this new compound is taken up by live cells where it primarily localizes within the nucleus and displays low cytotoxicity in the absence of light. However, in complete contrast to [{RuII(phen)2}2(tpphz)]4+, the new complex is therapeutically activated by light to become highly phototoxic toward malignant human melanoma cell line showing that it is a promising lead for the treatment of this recalcitrant cancer.EPSRC grant EP/M015572/1 Unviersity of Sheffield/EPSRC Doctoral Fellowship Prize EPSRC Capital Equipment Award ERASMUS

sgsR: a structurally guided sampling toolbox for LiDAR-based forest inventories

Establishing field inventories can be labor intensive, logistically challenging and expensive. Optimizing a sample to derive accurate forest attribute predictions is a key management-level inventory objective. Traditional sampling designs involving pre-defined, interpreted strata could result in poor selection of within-strata sampling intensities, leading to inaccurate estimates of forest structural variables. The use of airborne laser scanning (ALS) data as an applied forest inventory tool continues to improve understanding of the composition and spatial distribution of vegetation structure across forested landscapes. The increased availability of wall-to-wall ALS data is promoting the concept of structurally guided sampling (SGS), where ALS metrics are used as an auxiliary data source driving stratification and sampling within management-level forest inventories. In this manuscript, we present an open-source R package named sgsR that provides a robust toolbox for implementing various SGS approaches. The goal of this package is to provide a toolkit to facilitate better optimized allocation of sample units and sample size, as well as to assess and augment existing plot networks by accounting for current forest structural conditions. Here, we first provide justification for SGS approaches and the creation of the sgsR toolbox. We then briefly describe key functions and workflows the package offers and provide two reproducible examples. Avenues to implement SGS protocols according to auxiliary data needs are presented

Boron-Based Inhibitors of the NLRP3 Inflammasome.

NLRP3 is a receptor important for host responses to infection, yet is also known to contribute to devastating diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and others, making inhibitors for NLRP3 sought after. One of the inhibitors currently in use is 2-aminoethoxy diphenylborinate (2APB). Unfortunately, in addition to inhibiting NLRP3, 2APB also displays non-selective effects on cellular Ca2+ homeostasis. Here, we use 2APB as a chemical scaffold to build a series of inhibitors, the NBC series, which inhibit the NLRP3 inflammasome in vitro and in vivo without affecting Ca2+ homeostasis. The core chemical insight of this work is that the oxazaborine ring is a critical feature of the NBC series, and the main biological insight the use of NBC inhibitors led to was that NLRP3 inflammasome activation was independent of Ca2+. The NBC compounds represent useful tools to dissect NLRP3 function, and may lead to oxazaborine ring-containing therapeutics

Networks uncover hidden lexical borrowing in Indo-European language evolution

Language evolution is traditionally described in terms of family trees with ancestral languages splitting into descendent languages. However, it has long been recognized that language evolution also entails horizontal components, most commonly through lexical borrowing. For example, the English language was heavily influenced by Old Norse and Old French; eight per cent of its basic vocabulary is borrowed. Borrowing is a distinctly non-tree-like process—akin to horizontal gene transfer in genome evolution—that cannot be recovered by phylogenetic trees. Here, we infer the frequency of hidden borrowing among 2346 cognates (etymologically related words) of basic vocabulary distributed across 84 Indo-European languages. The dataset includes 124 (5%) known borrowings. Applying the uniformitarian principle to inventory dynamics in past and present basic vocabularies, we find that 1373 (61%) of the cognates have been affected by borrowing during their history. Our approach correctly identified 117 (94%) known borrowings. Reconstructed phylogenetic networks that capture both vertical and horizontal components of evolutionary history reveal that, on average, eight per cent of the words of basic vocabulary in each Indo-European language were involved in borrowing during evolution. Basic vocabulary is often assumed to be relatively resistant to borrowing. Our results indicate that the impact of borrowing is far more widespread than previously thought