A longevidade das restaurações com compósitos está diretamente relacionada ao sucesso do tratamento estético. A vida útil das restaurações pode ser influenciada por vários fatores como o material empregado, tempo de uso clínico e a degradação da matriz dentinária por metaloproteinases da matriz (MMPs), que podem afetar a integridade da interface adesiva, fazendo com que a união dentina-­adesivo seja comprometida. Assim, buscando melhores resultados na durabilidade das restaurações adesivas, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito de substâncias inibidoras de MMPs (soluções de clorexidina -­ CHX a 0,2% e doxiciclina a 3%) e agente de ligação cruzada (extrato de semente de uva -­ grape seed extract - GSE a 15%) na Resistência de União (RU) de restaurações de resina composta submetidas à ciclagem mecânica. Cavidades de Classe I foram preparadas na área central da superfície exposta de 48 molares humanos hígidos, posteriormente separados em 4 grupos (n=12) de acordo com o tratamento de superfície recebido após o condicionamento de ácido: Grupo I -­ Controle (Sistema Adesivo -­ Adper Single Bond Plus -­ 3M ESPE); Grupo II -­ CHX 0,2% + Sistema Adesivo; Grupo III -­ GSE 15% + Sistema Adesivo e Grupo IV -­ Doxiciclina 3% + Sistema Adesivo. Após os procedimentos restauradores (Filtek Supreme Ultra -­ 3M ESPE), as amostras foram armazenadas em água destilada durante 24 horas a 37°C e subdividas em dois subgrupos: A -­ Controle (armazenado em saliva artificial) e B -­ Submetido à ciclagem mecânica (Coil Cycler, Proto-­tech, forca de 50 N, frequência de 1,5 Hz em 1 x 106 ciclos de aplicação). Após ciclagem mecânica, os corpos de prova foram cortados em palitos (0,8 x 0,8 mm; n = 5 por dente) e submetidos ao teste de microtração (Bisco) a velocidade de 1 mm/min. A atividade colagenolítica da MMP-­2 sob a ação dos primers bioativos foi analisada utilizando o kit EnzChek Gelatinase/Colagenase Assay (D-­12054, Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, EUA). A atividade gelatinolítica das MMPs-­2 e -­9 após incubação com os primers bioativos foi avaliada através de zimografia convencional. Os resultados obtidos das duas análises foram apresentados na forma de porcentagem de inibição. Zimografia in situ foi realizada utilizando gelatina de fluorescência conjugada (Kit EnzChek Gelatinase/Collagenase Assay) como substrato de MMPs e avaliada com aumento de 40x através de microscopia de fluorescência. Posteriormente, os fótons fluorescentes foram analisados em software (ImageJ). Obtidos os resultados, os dados foram submetidos à análise estatística (2way ANOVA, Tukey, p>0,05) e demonstraram que os primers bioativos não exerceram influência significante sobre a RU dentina-­adesivo, independente da ação da ciclagem mecânica. A atividade colagenolítica, segundo zimografia convencional, demonstrou que os primers bioativos foram capazes de inibir as MMPs, sendo a CHX menos eficiente. Na análise de zimografia in situ, os primers bioativos diminuíram a atividade das MMPs localizadas na interface adesiva, com aumento da atividade gelatinolítica do grupo Controle sendo maior quando submetidos à ciclagem mecânica, efeito não encontrados no grupos tratados com primers bioativos. Concluiu-­se que, apesar de não apresentarem efeitos sobre a RU da interface adesiva, os primers bioativos apresentam ação sobre a degradação da camada híbrida. / The durability of composite resin restorations is one of the main points related to the success in aesthetic treatments. The longevity of adhesive restorations can be affected by various factors such as the materials, the clinical time of use and the dentin matrix degradation mediated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs can affect the adhesive interface, compromising the bonding between dentin and adhesive. Thus, searching for better results on longevity of adhesive restorations, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of MMPs inhibitors (chlorhexidine -­ CHX 0.2% and doxycycline 3% ) and crosslinking agent (grape seed extract -­ GSE 15%) on resin composite bond strength (BS) of restorations submitted to load cycling. Class I cavities were performed in the central area of the exposed surface of 48 sound human molars. Then, it was divided into 4 groups (n=12) according to the surface treatment received after the acid etching: Group I -­ Control (Adhesive System -­ Adper Single Bond Plus -­ 3M ESPE); Group II -­ CHX 0.2% + Adhesive System; Group III -­ Doxycycline 3% + Adhesive System e Group IV -­ GSE 15% + Adhesive System. After restorative procedures (Filtek Supreme Ultra -­ 3M ESPE), the samples were stored in distilled water for 24 hours at 37°C and then subdivided into two subgroups (n=6): A -­ Control (stored in artificial saliva) and B -­ Submitted to load cycling (Coil Cycler, Proto-­tech, 50 N, 1.5 Hz, 1 x 106 cycles). After load cycling, the specimens were cut into sticks (0.8 x 0.8 mm; n = 5 per teeth) and submitted to the microtensile test (Bisco) at 1 mm/min. The collagenolytic activity of MMP-­2 under action of bioactive primers was analyzed using EnzChek Gelatinase/Colagenase Assay Kit (D-­12054, Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, EUA). The gelatinolytic activity of MMPs-­2 and -­9 after incubation with the bioactive primers was evaluated by gelatin zymography. The results of these two analyzes were presented by percentage of inhibition. In situ zymography was performed using fluorescence conjugated gelatin (EnzChek Gelatinase/Collagenase Assay Kit) as MMP substrate and evaluated using 40x magnification under fluorescence microscopy. Then the fluorescent photons were analyzed with an appropriate software (ImageJ). The results were subjected to statistical analysis (2-­way ANOVA, Tukey, p<0.05) and the bioactive primers showed no significant influence on the dentin-­adhesive BS, regardless the load cycling action. According to gelatin zymography, the collagenolytic activity demonstrated that the bioactive primers were able to inhibit MMPs activity and CHX was less efficient. In situ zymography analysis, showed that the bioactive primers decreased the activity of MMPs located in adhesive interface. The data also demonstrated increased gelatinolytic activity on Control group, being higher when submitted to load cycling, and which effect was not found in the groups treated with bioactive primers. It could be concluded that although the bioactive primers did not influenced the BS of adhesive interface, they demonstrated positive results on hybrid layer degradation.

A longevidade das restaurações com compósitos está diretamente relacionada ao sucesso do tratamento estético. A vida útil das restaurações pode ser influenciada por vários fatores como o material empregado, tempo de uso clínico e a degradação da matriz dentinária por metaloproteinases da matriz (MMPs), que podem afetar a integridade da interface adesiva, fazendo com que a união dentina-­adesivo seja comprometida. Assim, buscando melhores resultados na durabilidade das restaurações adesivas, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito de substâncias inibidoras de MMPs (soluções de clorexidina -­ CHX a 0,2% e doxiciclina a 3%) e agente de ligação cruzada (extrato de semente de uva -­ grape seed extract - GSE a 15%) na Resistência de União (RU) de restaurações de resina composta submetidas à ciclagem mecânica. Cavidades de Classe I foram preparadas na área central da superfície exposta de 48 molares humanos hígidos, posteriormente separados em 4 grupos (n=12) de acordo com o tratamento de superfície recebido após o condicionamento de ácido: Grupo I -­ Controle (Sistema Adesivo -­ Adper Single Bond Plus -­ 3M ESPE); Grupo II -­ CHX 0,2% + Sistema Adesivo; Grupo III -­ GSE 15% + Sistema Adesivo e Grupo IV -­ Doxiciclina 3% + Sistema Adesivo. Após os procedimentos restauradores (Filtek Supreme Ultra -­ 3M ESPE), as amostras foram armazenadas em água destilada durante 24 horas a 37°C e subdividas em dois subgrupos: A -­ Controle (armazenado em saliva artificial) e B -­ Submetido à ciclagem mecânica (Coil Cycler, Proto-­tech, forca de 50 N, frequência de 1,5 Hz em 1 x 106 ciclos de aplicação). Após ciclagem mecânica, os corpos de prova foram cortados em palitos (0,8 x 0,8 mm; n = 5 por dente) e submetidos ao teste de microtração (Bisco) a velocidade de 1 mm/min. A atividade colagenolítica da MMP-­2 sob a ação dos primers bioativos foi analisada utilizando o kit EnzChek Gelatinase/Colagenase Assay (D-­12054, Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, EUA). A atividade gelatinolítica das MMPs-­2 e -­9 após incubação com os primers bioativos foi avaliada através de zimografia convencional. Os resultados obtidos das duas análises foram apresentados na forma de porcentagem de inibição. Zimografia in situ foi realizada utilizando gelatina de fluorescência conjugada (Kit EnzChek Gelatinase/Collagenase Assay) como substrato de MMPs e avaliada com aumento de 40x através de microscopia de fluorescência. Posteriormente, os fótons fluorescentes foram analisados em software (ImageJ). Obtidos os resultados, os dados foram submetidos à análise estatística (2way ANOVA, Tukey, p>0,05) e demonstraram que os primers bioativos não exerceram influência significante sobre a RU dentina-­adesivo, independente da ação da ciclagem mecânica. A atividade colagenolítica, segundo zimografia convencional, demonstrou que os primers bioativos foram capazes de inibir as MMPs, sendo a CHX menos eficiente. Na análise de zimografia in situ, os primers bioativos diminuíram a atividade das MMPs localizadas na interface adesiva, com aumento da atividade gelatinolítica do grupo Controle sendo maior quando submetidos à ciclagem mecânica, efeito não encontrados no grupos tratados com primers bioativos. Concluiu-­se que, apesar de não apresentarem efeitos sobre a RU da interface adesiva, os primers bioativos apresentam ação sobre a degradação da camada híbrida. / The durability of composite resin restorations is one of the main points related to the success in aesthetic treatments. The longevity of adhesive restorations can be affected by various factors such as the materials, the clinical time of use and the dentin matrix degradation mediated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs can affect the adhesive interface, compromising the bonding between dentin and adhesive. Thus, searching for better results on longevity of adhesive restorations, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of MMPs inhibitors (chlorhexidine -­ CHX 0.2% and doxycycline 3% ) and crosslinking agent (grape seed extract -­ GSE 15%) on resin composite bond strength (BS) of restorations submitted to load cycling. Class I cavities were performed in the central area of the exposed surface of 48 sound human molars. Then, it was divided into 4 groups (n=12) according to the surface treatment received after the acid etching: Group I -­ Control (Adhesive System -­ Adper Single Bond Plus -­ 3M ESPE); Group II -­ CHX 0.2% + Adhesive System; Group III -­ Doxycycline 3% + Adhesive System e Group IV -­ GSE 15% + Adhesive System. After restorative procedures (Filtek Supreme Ultra -­ 3M ESPE), the samples were stored in distilled water for 24 hours at 37°C and then subdivided into two subgroups (n=6): A -­ Control (stored in artificial saliva) and B -­ Submitted to load cycling (Coil Cycler, Proto-­tech, 50 N, 1.5 Hz, 1 x 106 cycles). After load cycling, the specimens were cut into sticks (0.8 x 0.8 mm; n = 5 per teeth) and submitted to the microtensile test (Bisco) at 1 mm/min. The collagenolytic activity of MMP-­2 under action of bioactive primers was analyzed using EnzChek Gelatinase/Colagenase Assay Kit (D-­12054, Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, EUA). The gelatinolytic activity of MMPs-­2 and -­9 after incubation with the bioactive primers was evaluated by gelatin zymography. The results of these two analyzes were presented by percentage of inhibition. In situ zymography was performed using fluorescence conjugated gelatin (EnzChek Gelatinase/Collagenase Assay Kit) as MMP substrate and evaluated using 40x magnification under fluorescence microscopy. Then the fluorescent photons were analyzed with an appropriate software (ImageJ). The results were subjected to statistical analysis (2-­way ANOVA, Tukey, p<0.05) and the bioactive primers showed no significant influence on the dentin-­adhesive BS, regardless the load cycling action. According to gelatin zymography, the collagenolytic activity demonstrated that the bioactive primers were able to inhibit MMPs activity and CHX was less efficient. In situ zymography analysis, showed that the bioactive primers decreased the activity of MMPs located in adhesive interface. The data also demonstrated increased gelatinolytic activity on Control group, being higher when submitted to load cycling, and which effect was not found in the groups treated with bioactive primers. It could be concluded that although the bioactive primers did not influenced the BS of adhesive interface, they demonstrated positive results on hybrid layer degradation.

<p>Uppsatsen är en pilotstudie med syfte att undersöka sambandet mellan psykisk ohälsa, anknytningsmönster och upplevd självförmåga i en grupp tonåringar (n=19) som behandlas eller behandlats för psykiatriska eller sociala problem. Självskattningsformulär som mäter förekomsten av psykiatriska symtom (SCL-90), anknytningsmönster(ASQ) och upplevd självförmåga (GSE) har använts. Resultatet av studien visar att det kan finnas ett positivt samband mellan trygg anknytning och upplevd självförmåga, och negativa samband med otrygg anknytning. Graden av psykisk ohälsa har negativt samband med den upplevda självförmågan. En principalkomponentanalys tydde på att en complaintfaktor svarade för huvuddelen av variansen i materialet, vilket ger upphov till metodologiska frågor. Sammantaget är upplevd självförmåga och dess relation till anknytningsmönster intressant att undersöka vidare.</p>

Uppsatsen är en pilotstudie med syfte att undersöka sambandet mellan psykisk ohälsa, anknytningsmönster och upplevd självförmåga i en grupp tonåringar (n=19) som behandlas eller behandlats för psykiatriska eller sociala problem. Självskattningsformulär som mäter förekomsten av psykiatriska symtom (SCL-90), anknytningsmönster(ASQ) och upplevd självförmåga (GSE) har använts. Resultatet av studien visar att det kan finnas ett positivt samband mellan trygg anknytning och upplevd självförmåga, och negativa samband med otrygg anknytning. Graden av psykisk ohälsa har negativt samband med den upplevda självförmågan. En principalkomponentanalys tydde på att en complaintfaktor svarade för huvuddelen av variansen i materialet, vilket ger upphov till metodologiska frågor. Sammantaget är upplevd självförmåga och dess relation till anknytningsmönster intressant att undersöka vidare.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva och jämföra skattning av känslan av sammanhang och tilltro till sin egen förmåga hos patienter med stroke respektive kronisk njursvikt. Metod: Frågeformulären GSE och SOC användes för att mäta tilltro till sin egen förmåga samt känsla av sammanhang hos patienter med stroke (n=63) och patienter med kronisk njursvikt (n=54). Deltagarna valdes ut från diagnosregistret ICD 10 från ett landsting i Mellansverige. Resultat: Båda patientgrupperna skattade högst på delskalan SOC-begriplighet och lägst på delskalan SOC-meningsfullhet. Det fanns signifikanta skillnader mellan yngre och äldre patienter med stroke gällande skattning av delskalan begriplighet. Det fanns dock inga signifikanta skillnader mellan yngre och äldre patienter med kronisk njursvikt. Båda patientgrupperna skattade tilltron till sin egen förmåga ungefär lika högt. Slutsats: Resultatet av denna studie visar att äldre strokepatienter upplever sig ha större begriplighet än yngre patientervilket kan bero på livserfarenhet vilket stämmer överens med tidigare studier. Det fanns inga skillnader mellan hur patientgrupperna skattade tilltron till sin egen förmåga, så skattningen verkar bero på det kroniska sjukdomstillståndet snarare än den specifika sjukdomen. Det beskrivs även i tidigare forskning. Kunskap om hur patienter med kroniska sjukdomar använder sig av copingresurser kan leda till att sjuksköterskor blir bättre på att använda sig av patienternas inre och yttre resurser för att utveckla kvaliteten på omvårdnad. Nyckelord: Kronisk njursvikt, stroke, känsla av sammanhang, tilltro till sin egen förmåga, GSE, SOC / Aim: The aim of the study was to describe and compare the sense of coherence and self-efficacy of patients with stroke and chronic kidney disease. Methods: The questionnaires GSE and SOC was used to measure the sense of coherence and self-efficacy of patients with stroke (n=63) and patients with chronic kidney disease (n=54). The study groups were chosen from the international classification of disease (ICD-10) from a county in Central Sweden. Results: Both of the study groups rated highest on the comprehensibility sub-scale and lowest on the meaningfulness sub-scale. There were significant differences between younger and older patients with stroke regarding the comprehensibility sub-scale. There were no significant differences between younger and older patients with chronic kidney disease. Both of the studygroups estimated self-efficacy comparable the same. Conclusion: The result of this study shows that elderly stroke patients perceive to have greater intelligibility than younger patients, which may be caused by life experience which is consistent with previous studies. There were no differences in how patient groups estimated confidence in their own ability, so how they estimate appears to be due to chronic illness rather than a specific disease.It is also described in previous research. Knowledge of how patients with chronic diseases are using copingresources can lead to getting better at making use of patients ' internal and external resources to develop the quality of nursing care. Keywords: Chronic kidney disease, stroke, sense of coherence, self-efficacy, GSE, SOC / LVO-projekt

La croissance rapide du trafic aérien et les besoins en nouveaux services notamment pour les passagers imposent l'introduction de nouveaux moyens de communication pour les avions avec une bande passante globale fortement accrue. Les satellites sont appelés à jouer un rôle important dans ce contexte, non seulement en complément des systèmes terrestres pour les services « cockpit » (services ATM, Air Traffic Management) mais aussi pour les services « cabine » (In-Flight Entertainment). L'objectif de la thèse est d'étudier l'architecture d'un système satellite supportant l'ensemble de ces services, en se focalisant sur l'architecture du terminal embarqué à bord des aéronefs. L'architecture retenue repose sur des liaisons DVB-S2/DVB-RCS normalisées par l'ETSI. Cette option permet d'utiliser efficacement l'importante bande passante disponible en bande Ka pour les services mobiles aéronautiques (allocation primaire) ou en bande Ku (allocation secondaire). Ces normes ont été conçues pour les applications multimédia (Broadband Satellite Multimedia). Le défi est alors d'utiliser de telles liaisons satellite pour des services aux caractéristiques et besoins fortement hétérogènes. Par ailleurs, l'utilisation de la bande Ka n'est pas concevable sans l'activation de techniques de lutte contre les affaiblissements (FMT – Fade Mitigation Techniques). L'utilisation d'une marge statique conduit à une perte importante de capacité. Les techniques FMT reposent sur une évaluation dynamique du bilan de liaison et permettent une modification de la forme d'onde. Le système utilise ainsi la forme d'onde la plus efficace spectralement pour chaque terminal et maximise la capacité globale du système. Par contre, chaque terminal observe une modification de la ressource allouée au fil du temps. L'objectif de la thèse est de concevoir une architecture au niveau terminal qui permette d'exploiter les liaisons DVB-S2/RCS afin de fournir les services passagers (Internet et téléphonie mobile de type GSM/UMTS) et un canal haute fiabilité pour les services aéronautiques. Deux approches ont été retenues. La première repose sur une application du modèle ETSI BSM (Broadband Satellite Multimedia) en couches séparant strictement les couches dépendantes satellite et les couches indépendantes satellite. Les simulations de cette architecture montrent que les liaisons ne peuvent être utilisées de façon efficace sans une interaction entre couches afin de tenir compte de l'évolution de la capacité disponible. La seconde approche consiste en la concentration de la gestion de la ressource et la gestion de la qualité de service dans la même couche protocolaire. L'idée de départ est d'utiliser la méthode d'encapsulation générique Generic Stream Encapsulation (GSE). GSE a été conçu pour la projection des paquets de couches supérieures à l'intérieur des trames DVB-S2. GSE tient compte de la taille variable des trames DVB-S2 et introduit une capacité de multiplexage entre différents flux (identification de fragments). Sur cette base, une gestion de l'accès est introduite pour gérer la liaison DVB-RCS au format MF-TDMA. Nous introduisons ainsi une utilisation conjointe de GSE, d'une politique de service différentiée et de flux de signalisation inter-couches (« cross-layer »). Les performances des deux approches sont étudiées à l'aide d'un modèle de simulation développé à l'aide du logiciel OPNET Modeler (simulations à événements discrets). Les résultats obtenus démontrent le meilleur comportement de la seconde architecture avec une meilleure utilisation de la ressource et des performances de transmission satisfaisant les objectifs. / The rapid growth of air traffic needs a new communication infrastructure with increased bandwidth, high speed services and applications to satisfy expected air-ground communication requirements. Satellite communication systems play a significant role in this context, not only as a complement to terrestrial systems for Air Traffic Management (ATM) by offering global coverage but also as a promising solution to enrich In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) for passengers. DVB-S2/RCS technology is an attractive proposition to provide the cost-effective broadband services for both ATM and IFE, mainly because a large radio bandwidth is primarily allocated to aeronautical mobile communications in Ka-band, where the open standards DVB are implemented. However, such system design with convergence of heterogeneous traffics involves two main challenges. Firstly, using Ka-band means the implementation of Fade Mitigation Techniques (FMT) in order to cope with deep fades caused by atmospheric attenuation. Otherwise, the waste of capacity would be excessively high in a constant link margin design. FMT adapt in real time the link budget to the propagation conditions, this adaptivity has an impact not only on physical layer but also on upper layers. An efficient ressource management strategy with dynamic bandwidth allocation is required in this case, especially in DVB-RCS return link where FMT are not natives. Secondly, the proposed system must be able to multiplex the trafic flows with highly different characteristics and Quality of Service (QoS) expectations into a single link, the corresponding capacity management and QoS support seem with higher complexity. In this paper, we present an adaptive system design using a single DVB-S2/RCS based satellite link to provide Internet access and mobile telephony (GSM/UMTS) for passengers and a high-reliability channel for ATM. Concerning the airborne terminal architecture, two approaches are investigated. The first one is in compliance with ETSI Broadband Satellite Multimedia (BSM) architecture and based on a layering paradigm. The conducted simulation experiments highlight the need of dynamic interactions and adaptations among the layers to achieve an overall performance optimization. We propose then an enhanced approach with the concentration of both resource allocation and QoS management at the same interface – adaptation layer. The idea comes from the success of the recent Generic Stream Encapsulation (GSE) protocol, which carries the network protocol packets over DVB-S2 forward link in a simple, flexible and efficient way, especially when used with Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM). Furthermore, GSE can be easily extended to use in our design for DVB-RCS return link thanks to a proper design of MF-TDMA structure in which the suitable FMT (ACM and Dynamic Rate Adaptation) are context-aware configured. With the combined use of GSE, service policy and the interactions between adaptation and access layers, incoming heterogeneous traffics can be dynamically scheduled, segmented and encapsulated at the same adaptation layer. Performance evaluation of two proposed approaches is derived by a network-level simulation model developed using OPNET. Results prove the enhanced approach outperforms the first one leading to better resource utilization and satisfactory performance.

Context. In this ever-changing world of software development, the process of organizations adopting distributed development is gaining prominence. Implementing various development processes in such distributed environment is giving rise to numerous issues which affects the quality of the product. These issues could be due to the involvement of architects across national borders during the process of development. In this research, the focus is to improve software quality by addressing the impact of maturity and scale between teams and its affect on code review process. Further to identify the issues behind the distribution between teams separated by geographical, temporal and cultural distances. Objectives. The main objective of this research is to identify how different factors such as maturity on quality of deliverables, scale and distribution that impacts the code review process affecting software quality. Based on code review comments in data set, the factors that were examined in this research are evolvability of defects and difference in the quality of software developed by mature and immature teams within code review process. Later on, the issues related to the impact of geographical, temporal and cultural distances on the type of defects revealed during distributed development are identified. Methods. To achieve these objectives, a case study was conducted at Ericsson. A mixed approach has been chosen that includes, archival data and semi-structured interviews to gather useful data for this research. Archival data is one of the data collection method used for reviewing comments in data set and gather quantitative results for the study. We employed approaches such as descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and graphical representation to analyze data. Moreover, to strengthen these results, semi-structured group interview is conducted to triangulate the data and collect additional insights about code review process in large scale organizations. Results. By conducting this research, it is inferred that teams with a lower level of maturity produce more number of defects. It was observed that 35.11% functional, 59.03% maintainability, 0.11% compatibility, 0.028% security, 0.73% reliability, 4.96% performance efficiency, 0.014% portability of defects were found from archival data. Majority of defects were of functional and maintainability type, which impacts software quality in distributed environment. In addition to the above-mentioned results, other findings are related to evolvability of defects within immature teams which shows that there is no particular trend in increase or decrease in number of defects. Issues that occur due to distribution between teams are found out in this research. The overall results of this study are to suggest the impact of maturity and scale on software quality by making numerical assumptions and validating these finding with interviews. Interviews are also used to inquire information about the issues from dataset related to the impact of global software engineering (GSE) distances on code review process. Conclusions. At the end of this research it is concluded that in these type of projects, immature teams produce more number of defects than mature teams. This is because when large-scale projects are distributed globally, it is always harder to share and acquire knowledge between teams, increase group learning and mentor teams located in immature sites. Immature developers have problems of understanding the structure of code, new architects need to acquire knowledge on the scope and real time issues for improving quality of software. Using results presented in this thesis, researchers can find new gaps easily to extend the research on various influences on code review process in distributed environment.

Context: Software engineering researchers are guided by research principles to conduct any type of research. Though, there are many guidelines to detail how a particular research method can be applied, there is always a necessity to continue and to improve the existing empirical research strategies. The context of this thesis is to address guidelines for conducting controlled experiments in Global Software Engineering (GSE). With this thesis, the state-of-the-art of conducting experiments in GSE research has been explored. Objectives: The goal of this thesis is to analyze the existing experiments in GSE research. Research problems addressed with GSE experiments and the state-of-the-art of overall GSE experiment design need to be analyzed. Appropriate guidelines should be drawn in order to provide strategies to future GSE researchers in mitigating or solving GSE specific experimentation challenges. Methods: A systematic literature review (SLR) is conducted to review all the GSE experiments that are found in the literature. The search process was done on 6 databases. A specific search and quality assessment criterion is used to select these GSE experiments. Furthermore, scientific interviews are conducted with GSE research experts to evaluate a set of guidelines (thesis author’s recommendations) that address the challenges when conducting GSE experiments. Thematic analysis has been performed to analyze the evaluation results and to further improve or implement any suggestions given by the interviewees. Conclusions: The results obtained from the SLR have provided a chance to understand the state-of-the-art and to analyze the challenges or problems when conducting controlled experiments in GSE. The challenges that are identified in GSE controlled experiments are found to be with experiment study-setting, involving subjects and addressing GSE relevant threats to validity in a GSE experiments. 9 guidelines are framed, with each guideline addressing a specific challenge. The final guidelines (that resulted after interviews) provide effective recommendations to GSE researchers when conducting controlled experiments. / +919441308167

Abiotic stress is a major constraint for crop productivity worldwide. To better understand the common biological mechanisms of abiotic stress responses in plants, we performed meta-analysis of 652 samples of RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data from 43 published abiotic stress experiments in Arabidopsis thaliana. These samples were categorized into eight different abiotic stresses including drought, heat, cold, salt, light and wounding. We developed a multi-step computational pipeline, which performs data downloading, preprocessing, read mapping, read counting and differential expression analyses for RNA-Seq data. We found that 5729 and 5062 genes are induced or repressed by only one type of abiotic stresses. There are only 18 and 12 genes that are induced or repressed by all stresses. The commonly induced genes are related to gene expression regulation by stress hormone abscisic acid. The commonly repressed genes are related to reduced growth and chloroplast activities. We compared stress responsive genes between any two types of stresses and found that heat and cold regulate similar set of genes. We also found that high light affects different set of genes than blue light and red light. Interestingly, ABA regulated genes are different from those regulated by other stresses. Finally, we found that membrane related genes are repressed by ABA, heat, cold and wounding but are up regulated by blue light and red light. The results from this work will be used to further characterize the gene regulatory networks underlying stress responsive genes in plants. / Master of Science