Software Process Improvement (SPI) methodology is defined as definitions of sequence of tasks, tools and techniques to be performed to plan and implement improvement activities. Well-known SPI frameworks like CMMI and ISO/IEC 15504 define SPI methodologies in an abstract manner. We developed an SPI methodology, BG-SPI, providing a ready-to-use SPI scheme with guidance on an iterative SPI lifecy...

introduction: drought is a natural and recurrent feature of climate. the characterizations of it may change under the effect of climate change in future periods. during the last few decades a number of different indices have been developed to quantify drought probabilities. droughts are caused by disruptions to an expected precipitation pattern and can be intensified by unusually high temperatu...

The reaction process and corresponding mechanism of coagulation and gelation of native soy protein isolates (SPIs) induced by microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) were investigated. The protein constituents of SPIs, including a majority of subunits of b-conglycinin and acidic subunits of glycinin, could be polymerized by MTGase to form high weight molecular (WM) biopolymers. Both the coagulation...

PURPOSE To examine association of residential conditions and past dieting with current dietary intake and body composition of female pharmacy students. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS The 24-hour recall method was used to evaluate dietary intake of 47 female students. Height, weight and four skinfold thickness were measured to assess body composition. In addition, survey included lifestyle questionn...

INTRODUCTON We wanted to identify the prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in Chinese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) treated with first-line targeted therapy (sorafenib or sunitinib). METHODS We retrospectively reviewed clinical data from 119 mRCC patients administered sorafenib or sunitinib at the Ruijin Hospital since 2007. OS rates were calculated by the Kapla...

BACKGROUND The gold standard diagnostic test for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is overnight polysomnography (PSG) which is costly in terms of time and money. Consequently, a number of alternatives to PSG have been proposed. Oximetry is appealing because of its widespread availability and ease of application. The diagnostic performance of an automated analysis algorithm based on falls and recov...

Adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer improves disease-free and overall survival in pre- and postmenopausal women. The importance of maintaining relative dose intensity (RDI) is well-known; however, little information is available from routine clinical practice regarding how well dose intensity is maintained with modern chemotherapy regimens.In a retrospective review of patients undergo...

Previous studies showed good agreement between pacemaker respiratory disturbance index (RDI) and polysomnography for diagnosis of severe sleep apnea (SA). The aim of this study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of RDI compared with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) from a cardiorespiratory sleep study for the diagnosis of severe SA within patients requiring a pacemaker and meeting diastolic dy...

STUDY OBJECTIVES To compare anthropomorphic, nocturnal polysomnographic (PSG), and multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) data between positional (PP) and nonpositional (NPP) obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. DESIGN This is a retrospective analysis of anthropomorphic, PSG, and MSLT data of a large group of OSA patients who underwent a complete PSG evaluation in our sleep disorders unit. The...