Does maintainability relate to the energy consumption of software? A case study

Software Quality Journal - Energy consumption of software has been becoming increasingly significant, since it can vary according to how the software has been developed. In recent years, developers...     

Empirical validation of referential integrity metrics

Databases are the core of Information Systems (IS). It is, therefore, necessary to ensure the quality of the databases in order to ensure the quality of the IS. Metrics are useful mechanisms for controlling database quality. This paper presents two metrics related to referential integrity, number of foreign keys (NFK) and depth of the referential tree (DRT) for controlling the quality of a relational database. However, to ascertain the practical utility of the metrics, experimental validation is necessary. This validation can be carried out through controlled experiments or through case studies. The controlled experiments must also be replicated in order to obtain firm conclusions. With this objective in mind, we have undertaken different empirical work with metrics for relational databases. As a part of this empirical work, we have conducted a case study with some metrics for relational databases and a controlled experiment with two metrics presented in this paper. The detailed experiment described in this paper is a replication of the later one. The experiment was replicated in order to confirm the results obtained from the first experiment.

As a result of all the experimental works, we can conclude that the NFK metric is a good indicator of relational database complexity. However, we cannot draw such firm conclusions regarding the DRT metric.     

Specific Polyphenols and Tannins are Associated with Defense Against Insect Herbivores in the Tropical Oak Quercus oleoides

The role of plant polyphenols as defenses against insect herbivores is controversial. We combined correlative field studies across three geographic regions (Northern Mexico, Southern Mexico, and Costa Rica) with induction experiments under controlled conditions to search for candidate compounds that might play a defensive role in the foliage of the tropical oak, Quercus oleoides. We quantified leaf damage caused by four herbivore guilds (chewers, skeletonizers, leaf miners, and gall forming insects) and analyzed the content of 18 polyphenols (including hydrolyzable tannins, flavan-3-ols, and flavonol glycosides) in the same set of leaves using high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Foliar damage ranged from two to eight percent per region, and nearly 90% of all the damage was caused by chewing herbivores. Damage due to chewing herbivores was positively correlated with acutissimin B, catechin, and catechin dimer, and damage by mining herbivores was positively correlated with mongolinin A. By contrast, gall presence was negatively correlated with vescalagin and acutissimin B. By using redundancy analysis, we searched for the combinations of polyphenols that were associated to natural herbivory: the combination of mongolinin A and acutissimin B had the highest association to herbivory. In a common garden experiment with oak saplings, artificial damage increased the content of acutissimin B, mongolinin A, and vescalagin, whereas the content of catechin decreased. Specific polyphenols, either individually or in combination, rather than total polyphenols, were associated with standing leaf damage in this tropical oak. Future studies aimed at understanding the ecological role of polyphenols can use similar correlative studies to identify candidate compounds that could be used individually and in biologically meaningful combinations in tests with herbivores and pathogens.     

Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 211

The evaluated spectroscopic data are presented for 11 known nuclides of mass 211 (Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Po, At, Rn, Fr, Ra, Ac, Th). The ²¹¹Pa nuclide is included here but its identification remains uncertain. For ²¹¹Hg, ²¹¹Tl, ²¹¹Ac and ²¹¹Th nuclei, only the ground–state information is available. Their decay characteristics are mostly unknown. ²¹¹Fr is suggested to decay partially through ε decay mode, but its decay scheme remains poorly known. While high–spin excitations, including several isomers, are well studied in ²¹¹Pb, ²¹¹Bi, ²¹¹Po, ²¹¹At, ²¹¹Rn and ²¹¹Fr, the particle–transfer data are available for only ²¹¹Po and ²¹¹Bi.This evaluation was carried out as part of joint IAEA–ICTP workshop for Nuclear Structure and Decay Data, organized and hosted by the IAEA, Vienna and ICTP, Trieste, August 6–17, 2012. This work supersedes previous A=211 evaluation (2004Br45) published by E. Browne which covered literature before January 2003.     

Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 192

Experimental structure and decay data for all nuclei with mass A=192 (Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Po, At) have been evaluated. This evaluation, covering data received by 15 June 2012, supersedes the 1998 evaluation by C. M. Baglin (Nuclear Data Sheets 84, 717 (1998), literature cutoff August 1998) and the subsequent inclusion in the ENSDF database of the new nuclide ¹⁹²At (C. M. Baglin, literature cutoff 16 May 2006). It also incorporates the current evaluation of superdeformed-band information by B. Singh. Since the last publication, ¹⁹²Ta, ¹⁹²W and ¹⁹²At have been observed, and an isomeric state has been identified in ¹⁹²Re. The ε decay of ¹⁹²Au has been studied using a multidetector array resulting in an extensively revised level scheme for ¹⁹²Pt.     

Pilot Plant Results with Three Different Types of UV Lamps for Advanced Oxidation

Three different types of ultraviolet lamps were tested for the advanced oxidation process application on pre-treated surface water in a pilot plant. The pilot setup consisted of three parallel reactors with either medium pressure, low pressure or dielectric barrier discharge UV lamps. Four model compounds (atrazine, bromacil, ibuprofen and N-nitroso-dimethylamine (NDMA)) and 0, 5 or 10 ppm hydrogen peroxide were dosed. Low pressure lamps were shown to have the lowest energy demand, calculated as electrical energy per order, followed by dielectric barrier discharge lamps and then medium pressure lamps. Medium pressure lamps gave the highest formation of genotoxic activity and nitrite formation, whereas no formation of genotoxic activity was observed for either of the other lamp types.     

Occupational segregation in a country of recent mass immigration: evidence from Spain

The aim of this paper is to study the occupational segregation of immigrants in Spain. It analyzes whether age, educational level, gender, region of origin, and years of residence in Spain affect the distribution of immigrants across occupations. In addition, given the remarkable increase of immigrants in the last few years and the adjustments that have occurred in the Spanish labor market from the current economic crisis, the evolution of the occupational segregation of immigrants between 1996 and 2009 is addressed. For these purposes, several measures recently proposed in the literature are used.     

On the many faces of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a maternally inherited disorder, associated with mutations in the mitochondrial DNA, which is notorious for its aspecific presentations. Two pedigrees are described with cases that are atypical for LHON with respect to sex, age of onset, interval between the eyes becoming affected, course of the disease, concomitant disorders, additional test results, final visual acuity, and/or results of mtDNA analysis. Moreover, the pedigrees themselves did not suggest maternal inheritance. We analysed the diagnostic and clinical genetic difficulties related to the atypical aspects of these pedigrees. We conclude that mtDNA analysis is justified in every case of optic nerve atrophy with no clear cause. Identification of one of the three LHON specifically associated mtDNA mutations is essential to confirm the diagnosis.