Arun Sharma

Estimation of quality for software components: an empirical approach

Component-Based Development (CBD) approach now is widely accepted in software industry. This approach enables efficient application development through the integration of already developed software components. The success of these applications heavily depends upon the selection of appropriate components to fit customer requirements. Therefore it is very necessary to evaluate the quality of components before using them in the final system. Quality models proposed so far can not be fully implemented as-it-is on components and component-based systems (CBS) due to architectural differences in the development approach. Present paper surveys a number of quality models for traditional and component-based systems and proposes a new model for CBS by proposing some new characteristics, which may be very relevant in the context of components. All the quality characteristics may not be of prime importance for an application to be developed for a specific domain. Therefore, it is necessary to identify only those characteristics/sub-characteristics, which may have higher priorities over the others. The present work uses Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assign the weight values to the characteristics for the proposed model. These weight values are then used to evaluate the quality contribution of sub-characteristics, characteristics and then finally the overall quality of the component by using the appropriate metrics. This approach can be used to identify and select better quality component among several others which can be used in the final system.

Reusability assessment for software components

Software reuse has been used as a tool to reduce the development cost and time of the software. Nowadays, in fact, majority of software systems are being developed from an assembly of existing reusable components. In order to assess the reuse of components effectively, it is necessary to measure the reusability of these components. Paper proposes Artificial Neural Network based approach to assess the reusability of software component. This work will help developers to select the best component in terms of its reusability, which will improve the maintainability of the overall system.

A rule-based approach for estimating the reliability of component-based systems

Reliability is one of the most important nonfunctional requirements for software. Accurately estimating reliability for component-based software systems (CBSSs) is not an easy task, and researchers have proposed many approaches to CBSS reliability estimation. Some of these approaches focus on component reliability and others focus on glue code reliability. All of the approaches that have been proposed are mathematical. However, because reliability is a real-world phenomenon with associated real-time issues, it cannot be measured accurately and efficiently with mathematical models. Soft computing techniques that have recently emerged can be used to model the solution of real-world problems that are too difficult to model mathematically. The two basic soft computing techniques are fuzzy computing and probabilistic computing. In this paper, we focus on four factors that have the strongest effect on CBSS reliability. Based on these four factors, we propose a new fuzzy-logic-based model for estimating CBSS reliability. We implemented and validated our proposed model on small applications, and the results confirm the effectiveness of our model.

Dependency analysis for component-based software systems

Interaction in component-based systems (CBS) happens when a component provides an interface and other components use it, and also when a component submits an event and other component receives it. Interactions promote dependencies. Higher dependency leads to a complex system, which results in poor understanding and a higher maintenance cost. Usually, dependency is represented by an adjacency matrix used in graph theory. However, this representation can check only for the presence of dependency between components and does not consider the type of interactions between these components. Interaction type can have a significant contribution to the complexity of the system. This paper proposes a link-list based dependency representation and implements it by using Hash Map in Java. This representation can store the dependency along with other information like, provided and required interfaces of components along with their types. This information can be used to analyze several interaction and dependency related issues. This paper also presents the results of an experiment of the proposed approach and measures the interaction densities and dependency level of an individual component and for the system The results show that the proposed metrics can also be used to identify the most critical and isolated components in the system, which can lead to better understanding and easy system maintenance.

Reactive oxygen species: friend or foe?

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are an inevitable by-product of cellular metabolism. ROS generation can be associated with the interaction of ionizing radiation with biological molecules, and devoted enzymes in phagocytic cells (NADPH oxidase and myeloperoxidase) or may be the result of an imbalance between radical generating and scavenging systems. Typically ROS have been consider as Pandora’s box, they have several innovative physiological roles in the body. ROS serve as signalling messengers for the activation of transcription factors from cytokine–receptor interactions. This facilitates the evolution and membrane fusion of spermatozoon and oocyte during fertilization. NADPH oxidase enzyme and nitric oxide (NO) function as potent vasodilators and immunity boosters. ROS have been suggested as prevalent regulators of several nuclear factors, including erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), nuclear factor kappa-B (NFκB) cells, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and p53, which are further associated with several signalling cascades. Under physiological conditions the amount of ROS generated in the body can be counterbalanced by natural antioxidants in the body. However, aberrant augmented levels of ROS predominantly lead to various defined disorders comprising myocardial infarction, autoimmune diseases, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and emphysema. Ordinarily, it is observed that the physiological roles of ROS are insubstantial compared with their pathological action. But there is a need to clearly define the line between pathological and physiological functions of ROS. Of particular worth is to reveal the beneficial responsibilities of ROS in different cellular pathways and metabolic functions, over its injurious consequences.

Few useful considerations for maintaining software components and component-based systems

Component-Based Systems (CBS) maintenance may require several activities different than normal applications, such as upgrading the functionality of black-box components (for which code may not be available), replacement of older version components with the new ones for better and improved functionality, tracing the problem of compatibility between the new components with system, and so on. The focus of this paper is on investigating several issues and concerns about maintainability of component-based systems. It also explores the acceptance of maintainability characteristics and sub-characteristics as defined in ISO9126 quality model for CBS. The paper proposes two new sub-characteristics, namely trackability and portability, to be included under the maintenance activity.

Reliability of component based systems: a critical survey

Software reliability is defined as the probability of the failure free operation of a software system for a specified period of time in a specified environment. Day by day software applications are growing more complex and with more emphasis on reuse. Component Based Software (CBS) applications have emerged. The focus of this paper is to provide an overview for the state of the art of Component Based Systems reliability estimation. In this paper, we discussed various approaches in terms of their scope, model, methods, technique and validation scheme. This comparison provides insight into determining the direction of future CBS reliability research.

Towards Multi-Faceted Test Cases Optimization

The target of software engineering is to produce high quality software product at low cost. Software testing is labour-intensive, ambiguous and error prone activity of software development. How to provide cost-effective strategies for software test cases optimization problem such as classification, minimization, selection, and prioritization has been one of the research focuses in software testing for a long time. Many researchers and academicians have addressed the effectiveness/fitness and optimization of test cases, and obtained many interesting results. However, one issue of paramount importance in software testing i.e. the intrinsic imprecise and uncertainty of test cases fitness, fitness parameters, multi-objective optimization, is left unaddressed. Test cases fitness depends on several parameters. Vagueness of fitness of test cases and their fitness parameters have created the uncertainty in test cases optimization. Cost and adequacy values are incorporated into multi-faceted optimization of test cases. This paper argues test cases optimization requires multi-faceted optimization in order to adequately cater realistic software testing. In this paper, authors have identified several parameters for test cases fitness and multiple objectives for test cases optimization. In addition above, authors have formulated the test cases optimization problem in three different ways using multi-faceted concept. These formulations can be used in future by authors and researchers.

Pharmacoresistant Epilepsy: A Current Update on Non-Conventional Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Interventions

Uncontrolled seizure or epilepsy is intricately related with an increase risk of pharmacoresistant epilepsy. The failure to achieve seizure control with the first or second drug trial of an anticonvulsant medication given at the appropriate daily dosage is termed as pharmacoresistance, despite the fact that these drugs possess different modes of action. It is one of the devastating neurological disorders act as major culprit of mortality in developed as well as developing countries with towering prevalence. Indeed, the presence of several anti-epileptic drug including carbamazepine, phenytoin, valproate, gabapentin etc. But no promising therapeutic remedies available to manage pharmacoresistance in the present clinical scenario. Hence, utility of alternative strategies in management of resistance epilepsy is increased which further possible by continuing developing of promising therapeutic interventions to manage this insidious condition adequately. Strategies include add on therapy with adenosine, verapamil etc or ketogenic diet, vagus nerve stimulation, focal cooling or standard drugs in combinations have shown some promising results. In this review we will shed light on the current pharmacological and non pharmacological mediator with their potential pleiotropic action on pharmacoresistant epilepsy.

Signalling mechanisms involved in renal pathological changes during cisplatin-induced nephropathy

ContextCisplatin, a coordination platinum complex, is used as a potential anti-neoplastic agent, having well recognized DNA-damaging property that triggers cell-cycle arrest and cell death in cancer therapy. Beneficial chemotherapeutic actions of cisplatin can be detrimental for kidneys.BackgroundUnbound cisplatin gets accumulated in renal tubular cells, leading to cell injury and death. This liable action of cisplatin on kidneys is mediated by altered intracellular signalling pathways such as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), extracellular regulated kinase (ERK), or C- Jun N terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK). Further, these signalling alterations are responsible for release and activation of tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α), mitochondrial dysfunction, and apoptosis, which ultimately cause the renal pathogenic process. Cisplatin itself enhances the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction, which further leads to renal apoptosis. Cisplatin-induced nephropathy is also mediated through the p53 and protein kinase-Cδ (PKCδ) signalling pathways.ObjectiveThis review explores these signalling alterations and their possible role in the pathogenesis of cisplatin-induced renal injury.