Evaluating software reuse alternatives: a model and its application to an industrial case study

We propose a model that enables software developers to systematically evaluate and compare all possible alternative reuse scenarios. The model supports the clear identification of the basic operations involved and associates a cost component with each basic operation in a focused and precise way. The model is a practical tool that assists developers to weigh and evaluate different reuse scenarios, based on accumulated organizational data, and then to decide which option to select in a given situation. The model is currently being used at six different companies for cost-benefit analysis of alternative reuse scenarios; we give a case study that illustrates how it has been used in practice.     

What does visual agnosia tell us about perceptual organization and its relationship to object perception?

The authors studied 2 patients, S.M. and R.N., to examine perceptual organization and its relationship to object recognition. Both patients had normal, low-level vision and performed simple grouping operations normally but were unable to apprehend a multielement stimulus as a whole. R.N. failed to derive global structure even under optimal stimulus conditions, was less sensitive to grouping by closure, and was more impaired in object recognition than S.M. These findings suggest that perceptual organization involves a multiplicity of processes, some of which are simpler and are instantiated in lower order areas of visual cortex (e.g., collinearity). Other processes are more complex and rely on higher order visual areas (e.g., closure and shape formation). The failure to exploit these latter configural processes adversely affects object recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

DAP kinase links the control of apoptosis to metastasis

DAP kinase is a new type of calcium/calmodulin-dependent enzyme that phosphorylates serine/threonine residues on proteins. Its structure contains ankyrin repeats and the 'death' domain, and it is associated with the cell cytoskeleton. The gene encoding DAP kinase was initially isolated as a positive mediator of apoptosis induced by interferon-gamma, by using a strategy of functional cloning. We have now tested whether this gene has tumour-suppressive activity. We found that lung carcinoma clones, characterized by their highly aggressive metastatic behaviour and originating from two independent murine lung tumours, did not express DAP kinase, in contrast to their low-metastatic counterparts. Restoration of DAP kinase to physiological levels in high-metastatic Lewis carcinoma cells suppressed their ability to form lung metastases after intravenous injection into syngeneic mice, and delayed local tumour growth in a foreign 'microenvironment' Conversely, in vivo selection of rare lung lesions following injection into syngeneic mice of low-metastatic Lewis carcinoma cells or of DAP kinase transfectants, was associated with loss of DAP kinase expression. In situ TUNEL staining of tumour sections revealed that DAP kinase expression from the transgene raised the incidence of apoptosis in vivo. DAP-kinase transfectants also showed increased sensitivity in vitro to apoptotic stimuli, of the sort encountered by metastasizing cells at different stages of malignancy. We propose that loss of DAP kinase expression provides a unique mechanism that links suppression of apoptosis to metastasis.     

Separability and integrality of global and local levels of hierarchical patterns.

Used a constrained classification task to examine the perceptual relations between global and local levels in hierarchical patterns composed of many, relatively small elements and those composed of few, relatively large elements. In 4 experiments, 52 18–35 yr olds made classifications based on form or texture or according to the shape of the configuration or the elements. Results indicate that configural and elemental levels were perceptually separable for many-element patterns when processed as form and texture. Ss could attend to either level without being affected by variation along the irrelevant dimension. However, when the same many-element patterns were processed for global and local shape. Ss could not selectively attend to either level. For few-element patterns, global configuration and local elements appeared to be perceptually integral dimensions. Results are discussed in terms of the global precedence hypothesis and explanations of integral and separable dimensions. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Insight and competence to consent to psychiatric hospitalization

The effect of chronic ethanol consumption (2 months) on atrial contractility and the myocardial phosphoinositide signaling system was examined in rat heart. Two months of ethanol consumption was not associated with changes in heart weight-to-body weight ratios; however, developed twitch tension was significantly lower in the ethanol atria compared with the control atria. Cytosolic and membrane-associated phospholipase C activity in atrial and ventricular tissue was measured and ethanol consumption was only associated with changes in ventricular cytosolic phospholipase C activity. When examining alpha(1)-adrenergic stimulated phosphoinositide turnover in [3H]inositol radiolabeled left atria, no differences in phenylephrine (10 microM)-stimulated inositol monophosphate, inositol bisphosphate, inositol trisphosphate, and inositol tetrakisphosphate were found between groups before or at various times after the addition of phenylephrine. It is concluded that short-term ethanol consumption is associated with depressed contractile function, but not the development of hypertrophy or changes in alpha(1)-adrenoreceptor-stimulated phosphoinositide turnover.     

Primacy of wholistic processing and global/local paradigm: A critical review.

The question of whether perception is analytic or wholistic is an enduring issue in psychology. The global-precedence hypothesis, considered by many as a modern version of the Gestaltist claim about the perceptual primacy of wholes, has generated a large body of research, but the debate still remains very active. This article reviews the research within the global/local paradigm and critically analyzes the assumptions underlyling this paradigm. The extent to which this line of research contributes to understanding the role of wholistic processing on object perception is discussed. It is concluded that one should be very cautious in making inferences about wholistic processing from the processing advantage of the global level of stimulus structure. A distinction is proposed between global properties, defined by their position in the hierarchical structure of the stimulus, and wholistic properties, defined as a function of interrelations among component parts. It is suggested that a direct comparison between processing of wholistic and component properties is needed to support the hypothesis about the perceptual primacy of wholistic processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uniform connectedness and grouping in the perceptual organization of hierarchical patterns

The principle of uniform connectedness (S. E. Palmer & I. Rock, 1994) states that connected regions of uniform visual properties correspond to the entry-level units of visual stimuli. The implications of this principle for the perceptual organization of hierarchical patterns were investigated in 3 experiments. Primed matching and visual search were used to examine the microgenesis of organization for patterns that vary in number and relative size of their elements. Results for the few-element patterns showed an initial representation of elements with a weaker representation of global configuration. Grouping of elements into global configuration consolidated with time and involved focused attention. The entry-level units of many-element patterns were global configuration and texture. Individuation of elements occurred later and involved focused attention. These findings are discussed with reference to processes underlying perceptual organization.     

Relative judgment seems to be the key: Revisiting the Beck effect.

In multiple-stimulus presentation, orientation disparity has been known to be more discriminable than disparity in line arrangement (e.g., J. Beck, see record 1972-28174-001). The source of the effect and its locus were studied in 7 experiments. In different experiments a discrimination between an upright T and either a tilted T or an L, or a discrimination between a tilted T and an L, was required, either in a single stimulus presentation or in the context of upright Ts. Number of stimuli, location uncertainty, and adjacency between stimuli were manipulated. The results indicated that the effect is insensitive to these factors, which is incommensurate with predictions from several accounts of the effect. All the effect requires is that disparate stimuli are simultaneously presented, suggesting that relative judgment is a necessary condition for its manifestation. The effect surfaces when the task calls for procedures based on perception of homogeneity or salience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Astaxanthin Prevents Diet-Induced NASH Progression by Shaping Intrahepatic Immunity

Dietary change leads to a precipitous increase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) from simple steatosis to the advanced form of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), affecting approximately 25% of the global population. Although significant efforts greatly advance progress in clarifying the pathogenesis of NAFLD and identifying therapeutic targets, no therapeutic agent has been approved. Astaxanthin (ASTN), a natural antioxidant product, exerts an anti-inflammation and anti-fibrotic effect in mice induced with carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) and bile duct ligation (BDL); thus, we proposed to further investigate the potential effect of ASTN on a diet-induced mouse NASH and liver fibrosis, as well as the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. By treating pre-development of NASH in mice induced with a choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined, high-fat diet (CDAHFD), we have demonstrated that oral administration ASTN preventively ameliorated NASH development and liver fibrosis by modulating the hepatic immune response, liver inflammation, and oxidative stress. Specifically, ASTN treatment led to the reduction in liver infiltration of monocyte-derived macrophages, hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation, oxidative stress response, and hepatocyte death, accompanied by the decreased hepatic gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, TGF-β1, and IL-1β. In vitro studies also demonstrated that ASTN significantly inhibited the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokine CCL2 in macrophages in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Overall, in vivo and in vitro studies suggest that ASTN functions as a promising therapeutic agent to suppress NASH and liver fibrosis via modulating intrahepatic immunity.