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In recent years in the software industry, the use of safety-critical software is increasing at a rapid rate. However, little is known about the relationship between safety-critical regulations and the management of technical debt. The research is based on interviews with 19 practitioners working in different safety-critical domains implementing software according to different safety regulation standards. The results are three-fold. First, the result shows that performing technical debt refactoring tasks in safety-critical software requires several additional activities and costs, compared to non-safety-critical software. This study has also identified several negative effects due to the impact of these regulatory requirements. Second, the results show that the safety-critical regulations strengthen the implementation of both source code and architecture and thereby initially limit the introduction of technical debt. However, at the same time, the regulations also force the software companies to perform later suboptimal work-around solutions that are counterproductive in achieving a high-quality software since the regulations constrain the possibility of performing optimal TD refactoring activities. Third, the result shows that technical debt refactoring decisions are heavily weighed on the costs associated with the application's recertification process and that these decisions seldom include the benefits of the refactoring activities in a structured way.

Introduction: Software companies aim to achieve continuous delivery to constantly provide value to their customers. A popular strategy is to use microservices architecture. However, such an architecture is also subject to debt, which hinders the continuous delivery process and thus negatively affects the software released to the customers. Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify issues, solutions and risks related to Architecture Technical Debt in microservices. Method: We conducted an exploratory case study of a real life project with about 1000 services in a large, international company. Through qualitative analysis of documents and interviews, we investigated Architecture Technical Debt in the communication layer of a system with microservices architecture. Results: Our main contributions are a list of Architecture Technical Debt issues specific for the communication layer in a system with microservices architecture, as well as their associated negative impact (interest), a solution to repay the debt and the its cost (principal). Among the found Architecture Technical Debt issues were the existence of business logic in the communication layer and a high amount of point-to-point connections between services. The studied solution consists of the implementation of different canonical models specific to different domains, the removal of business logic from the communication layer, and migration from services to use the communication layer correctly. We also contributed with a list of possible risks that can affect the payment of the debt, as lack of funding and inadequate prioritization. Conclusion: We found issues, solutions and possible risks that are specific for microservices architectures not yet encountered in the current literature. Our results may be useful for practitioners that want to avoid or repay Technical Debt in their microservices architecture.

Continuous integration is believed by many to improve software quality, including cyclomatic complexity. In this paper an exploratory study investigates the relationship between continuous integration behavior among developers and the cyclomatic complexity --- particularly at critical levels --- of the source code they commit, as a correct understanding of the consequences of a software development practice, particularly one as popular as continuous integration, is of crucial importance to industry professionals when deciding on improvement efforts. It is found that developer behavior differs significantly, as does their knowledge and awareness of cyclomatic complexity as a concept. We find that even though large commits ("big bangs") contribute proportionately slightly more to cyclomatic complexity, the effect is much less pronounced for critical cyclomatic complexity. It is also found that complex code tends to overlap with high levels of change activity, and that some developers deliberately change their integration behavior in the face of such hotspots, as a strategy to avoid merge conflicts.

Agile software development (ASD) has been employed effectively in the development of embedded systems, contributing to speeding up the delivery of value to the customers. However, some obstacles have been found, limiting the application of ASD to such a domain. This chapter focuses on one such challenges, the degradation of the system architecture over time, which is called, in literature, Architectural Technical Debt (ATD). Software engineering is an individual activity and the causes for ATD accumulation can be related to suboptimal decision taken by individual employees. New employees as well are more subjected to accumulating ATD due to the natural noncomplete understanding of the architecture and patterns. The chapter summarizes the causes, trends, consequences, and possible solutions related to the management of ATD. The results are all based on a strong collaboration with several software-intensive systems industries located in northern Europe and, consequently, relevant to all Industry 4.0 companies.

Architectural technical debt can be generated by changes in the business and the environment of an organization. In this paper, we emphasize the change in scalability requirements due to new regulations. Scalability is the ability of a system to handle an increased workload. For complex systems that are abruptly exposed via open interfaces and hence a greater workload, the scalability requirements may quickly increase, leading to technical debt. We term this scalability debt. This paper describes scalability triage, a light-weight, novel technique for identifying scalability threats as a form of technical debt. We illustrate this technique with an open banking case from a large software organization. Open banking is partly caused by the new European PSD2 regulative that enforce banks to open interfaces to unknown third-party actors. Banking systems are well-established, mature systems. However, with the advent of open banking and PSD2, the workload may quickly rocket. This leads to tougher scalability requirements and accumulated architectural debt, despite previously sound architectural decisions. Using scalability triage, such risks may be identified fast. It will then be possible to prevent this form of technical debt with timely reengineering.

Software startups are typically under extreme pressure to get to market quickly with limited resources and high uncertainty. This pressure and uncertainty is likely to cause startups to accumulate technical debt as they make decisions that are more focused on the short-term than the long-term health of the codebase. However, most research on technical debt has been focused on more mature software teams, who may have less pressure and, therefore, reason about technical debt very differently than software startups. In this study, we seek to understand the organizational factors that lead to and the benefits and challenges associated with the intentional accumulation of technical debt in software startups. We interviewed 16 professionals involved in seven different software startups. We find that the startup phase, the experience of the developers, software knowledge of the founders, and level of employee growth are some of the organizational factors that influence the intentional accumulation of technical debt. In addition, we find the software startups are typically driven to achieve a "good enough level," and this guides the amount of technical debt that they intentionally accumulate to balance the benefits of speed to market and reduced resources with the challenges of later addressing technical debt.

It is challenging to assess and manage Technical Debt. Technical Debt is avoided or refactored if the long-term benefits, such as preventing extra-costs, exceed the cost of repaying the debt. Some tools have been recently proposed for the identification of Technical Debt, but most of them do not help in assessing the cost-benefits of repaying the Debt. Besides, it is challenging to track, visualize and plan Technical Debt refactoring systematically. Although practitioners might use simple tracking tools, calculating and communicating Technical Debt is currently not supported. Based on the results of previous research, combined with several practical experiences in collaboration with large software companies, we have developed and evaluated a lightweight tool, AnaConDebt, to track and assess Technical Debt.

Software companies need to support continuous and fast delivery of customer value both in short and a long-term perspective. However, this can be hindered by evolution limitations and high maintenance efforts due to internal software quality issues by what is described as Technical Debt. Although significant theoretical work has been undertaken to describe the negative effects of Technical Debt, these studies tend to have a weak empirical basis and often lack quantitative data. The aim of this study is to estimate wasted time, caused by the Technical Debt interest during the software life-cycle. This study also investigates how practitioners perceive and estimate the impact of the negative consequences due to Technical Debt during the software development process. This paper reports the results of both an online web-survey provided quantitative data from 258 participants and follow-up interviews with 32 industrial software practitioners. The importance and originality of this study contributes and provides novel insights into the research on Technical Debt by quantifying the perceived interest and the negative effects it has on the software development life-cycle. The findings show that on average, 36% of all development time is estimated to be wasted due to Technical Debt; Complex Architectural Design and Requirement Technical Debt generates most negative effect; and that most time is wasted on understanding and/or measuring the Technical Debt. Moreover, the analysis of the professional roles and the age of the software system in the survey revealed that different roles are affected differently and that the consequences of Technical Debt are also influenced by the age of the software system.

The negative consequences of Technical Debt is an area of increasing interest, and more specifically the Architectural aspects of it have received increased attention in the last few years. Besides the negative effects of Architectural Technical Debt on the overall software product quality in terms of hindering evolution and causing high maintenance costs, Architectural Technical Debt also has a significant negative impact on software practitioners' daily work. Although a great deal of theoretical work on Architectural Technical Debt has been undertaken, there is a lack of empirical studies that examine the negative effects of Architectural Technical Debt during the software development lifecycle. The aim of this study is to investigate how practitioners perceive and estimate the impact of Architectural Technical Debt during the software development process. This paper reports the results of an online web survey providing quantitative data from 258 participants. The contribution of this paper is threefold: First, it shows that practitioners experience that the Architectural type of Technical Debt has the highest negative impact on daily software development work. Secondly, we provide evidence that does not support the commonly held belief that Architectural Technical Debt increases with the age of the software. Thirdly, we show that despite different responsibilities and working tasks of software professionals, Architectural Technical Debt negatively affects all roles without any significant difference between the roles.

Background: In the last two decades Technical Debt (TD) has received a considerable amount of attention from software engineering research and practice. Recently, a small group of studies suggests that, in addition to its technical and economic consequences, TD can affect developers’ psychological states and morale. However, until now there has been a lack of empirical research clarifying such influences. Aims: In this study, we aim at taking the first step in filling this gap by investigating the potential impacts of TD and its management on developers’ morale. Method: Drawing from previous literature on morale, we decided to explore the influence of TD and its management on three dimensions of morale called affective, future/goal, and interpersonal antecedents. In so doing, we conducted an exploratory field study and collected data from software professionals active in different industrial domains through eight qualitative interviews and an online survey (n=33). Results: Our results indicate that TD mainly has a negative influence on future/goal and affective antecedents of morale. This is mainly because the occurrence of TD hinders developers from performing their tasks and achieving their goals. TD management, on the other hand, has a positive influence on all the three dimensions of morale since it is associated with positive feelings and interpersonal feedback as well as a sense of progress. Conclusions: According to the results of this empirical study, the occurrence of TD reduces developers’ morale, while its management increases developers’ morale. peerReviewed

International audience; AbstractPollen diet is essential to nurse bees to develop hypopharyngeal glands (HPGs) and produce royal jelly to feed larvae. The effect of different diet regimes combined with pesticide exposure on the development of HPGs in honeybees was studied. In particular, a high-quality pollen mixture (high pollen diversity and protein content) and a low-quality diet (low pollen diversity and protein content) were combined with the chronic administration of thiamethoxam (10 and 40 μg/L). The impact of these stressors was evaluated by measuring the size of HPG acini and the total protein content of bee heads in 8- and 12-day-old bees. Bees fed with sub-lethal concentrations of thiamethoxam and with the low-quality diet exhibited smaller and irregularly shaped acini. The total protein content in bee head was also affected by pesticide administration, while the pollen quality did not cause significant modifications. In conclusion, these results highlighted the importance of the food quality, considered as nutritional value and pesticide contamination, for the physiological development of honeybees.

Fast software deliveries are hindered by high maintenance efforts due to internal quality issues and Technical Debt (TD) and specifically, Architectural Technical Debt (ATD) has received increased attention in the last few years. ATD has a significant influence and impact on system success and, left unchecked, it can cause expensive repercussions, it is, therefore, of maintenance and evolutionary importance to understand the basic underlying factors of ATD. Thus, with this as background, there is a need for a descriptive model to illustrate and explain the different ATD issues. The aim of this study is to synthesize and compile research efforts with the goal of creating new knowledge with a specific interest in the ATD field. The contribution of this paper is the presentation of a novel descriptive model, providing a comprehensive interpretation of the ATD phenomenon. This model categorizes the main characteristics of ATD and reveals their corresponding relations. The model is based on a systematic literature review (SLR) of currently recognized knowledge concerning ATD.

Technical debt (TD) is a concept used to describe a sub-optimal solution of a software artifact that negatively affects its comprehensibility, extendability and maintainability. As such, TD adversely affects the costs or quality associated with the artifact, which is also called interest. TD has through research been identified in all types of software artifacts, from architectural design to automated tests (Testware). However, research into testware technical debt (TTD) is limited and primarily focused on testing on lower level of system abstraction, i.e. unit-and integration tests, leaving a need for more TTD research on GUI-based testing. In this study we explore this gap in knowledge through an industrial case study at a Swedish avionics software development company. Four repositories are studied for the presence of TTD using expert interviews, semi-automated document analysis and automatic metric analysis. Results of the study provide initial support that the concept of TTD is applicable to GUI-based testware and show the presence of both TD items unique to GUI-based testware and items common to software. The implications of these results are that engineering best practices must be established for GUI-based testware to minimize TD interest.

Females of the pine sawfly Neodiprion sertifer (Hymenoptera Diprionidae) usually avoid Pinus pinea trees as host plants. In contrast, this sawfly species is highly attracted by P. sylvestris and P. nigra trees. Here, we investigated which pine volatiles might mediate this behavior by in situ sampling experiments and olfactometer laboratory tests. Volatiles emitted from P. pinea, P. sylvestris, and P. nigra foliage were sampled by solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Analysis of these volatiles by coupled gaschromatography/ mass spectrometry revealed that the relative amounts of the compounds emitted by the three species were significantly different. A discriminant analysis showed that the amounts of limonene and myrcene significantly contributed to the species-specific volatile patterns. Pinus pinea emitted higher relative amounts of limonene than the other pine species. Pinus sylvestris emitted the highest relative amounts of myrcene. When testing the response of N. sertifer females to these pine terpenoids in an olfactometer bioassay, a low amount of limonene was attractive, while a repellent effect was evident when higher amounts were used. The sawfly females showed no significant olfactory response to myrcene. These data suggest that low relative amounts of limonene have a significant function in attracting N. sertifer females, while high amounts might contribute to avoidance of a tree.

Technical Debt Management (TDM) has drawn the attention of software industries during the last years, including embedded systems. However, we currently lack an overview of how practitioners from this application domain perceive technical debt. To this end, we conducted a multiple case study in the embedded systems industry, to investigate: (a) the expected life-time of components that have TD, (b) the most frequently occurring types of TD in them, and (c) the significance of TD against run-time quality attributes. The case study was performed on seven embedded systems industries (telecommunications, printing, smart manufacturing, sensors, etc.) from five countries (Greece, Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, and Finland). The results of the case study suggest that: (a) maintainability is more seriously considered when the expected lifetime of components is larger than ten years, (b) the most frequent types of debt are test, architectural, and code debt, and (c) in embedded systems the run-time qualities are prioritized compared to design-time qualities that are usually associated with TD. The obtained results can be useful for both researchers and practitioners: the former can focus their research on the most industrially-relevant aspects of TD, whereas the latter can be informed about the most common types of TD and how to focus their TDM processes.

Large software companies need to support continuous and fast delivery of customer value both in the short and long term. However, this can be hindered if both evolution and maintenance of existing systems are hampered by Technical Debt. Although a lot of theoretical work on Technical Debt has been recently produced, its practical management lacks empirical studies. In this paper we investigate the state of practice in several companies in order to understand how they start tracking Technical Debt. We combined different methodologies: we conducted a survey, involving 226 respondents from 15 organizations and a more in-depth multiple case-study in three organizations, where Technical Debt was tracked: we involved 13 interviews and 79 Technical Debt issues analysis. We found that the development time dedicated to manage Technical Debt is substantial (around 25% of the overall development) but not systematic: only a few participants methodically track Technical Debt. By studying the approaches in the companies participating in the case-study, we understood how companies start tracking Technical Debt and what are the initial benefits and challenges. Finally, we propose a Strategic Adoption Model based to define and adopt a dedicated process for tracking Technical Debt

Architectural Technical Debt has recently received the attention of the scientific community, as a suitable metaphor for describing sub-optimal architectural solutions having short-term benefits but causing a long-term negative impact. We study such phenomenon in the context of Volvo Car Group, where the development of modern cars includes complex systems with mechanical components, electronics and software working together in a complicated network to perform an increasing number of functions and meet the demands of many customers. This puts high requirements on having an architecture and design that can handle these demands. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to manage Architecture Technical Debt, in order to make sure that the advantages of sub-optimal solutions do not lead to the payment of a large interest. We conducted a case study at Volvo Car Group and we discovered that architectural violations in the detailed design had an impact on the efficiency of the communication between components, which is an essential quality in cars and other embedded systems. Such interest is not studied in literature, which usually focuses on the maintainability aspects of Technical Debt. To explore how this Architectural Technical Debt and its interest could be communicated to stakeholders, we developed a visual tool. We found that not only was the Architectural Debt highly interesting for the architects and other stakeholders at VCG, but the proposed visualization was useful in increasing the awareness of the impact that Architectural

The term technical debt borrowed from financial debt describes the long-term negative effects of sub-optimal solutions to achieve short-term benefits. It has been widely studied so far in pure software systems. However, there is a lack of studies on technical debt in technical systems, which contain mechanical, electrical and software parts. Automated Production Systems are such technical systems. In this position paper, we introduce technical debt for Automated Production Systems and give examples from the different disciplines. Based on that description, we outline future research directions on technical debt in this field.

Display Omitted We provide a taxonomy of the causes for Architectural Technical Debt accumulation.Crisis model: shows the increasing accumulation of Architectural Technical Debt.Phases model: shows when Architectural Technical Debt is accumulated and refactored.Refactoring strategies: best and worst case scenarios with respect to crises.We conduct an empirical evaluation of the factors and models. ContextA known problem in large software companies is to balance the prioritization of short-term with long-term feature delivery speed. Specifically, Architecture Technical Debt is regarded as sub-optimal architectural solutions taken to deliver fast that might hinder future feature development, which, in turn, would hinder agility. ObjectiveThis paper aims at improving software management by shedding light on the current factors responsible for the accumulation of Architectural Technical Debt and to understand how it evolves over time. MethodWe conducted an exploratory multiple-case embedded case study in 7 sites at 5 large companies. We evaluated the results with additional cross-company interviews and an in-depth, company-specific case study in which we initially evaluate factors and models. ResultsWe compiled a taxonomy of the factors and their influence in the accumulation of Architectural Technical Debt, and we provide two qualitative models of how the debt is accumulated and refactored over time in the studied companies. We also list a set of exploratory propositions on possible refactoring strategies that can be useful as insights for practitioners and as hypotheses for further research. ConclusionSeveral factors cause constant and unavoidable accumulation of Architecture Technical Debt, which leads to development crises. Refactorings are often overlooked in prioritization and they are often triggered by development crises, in a reactive fashion. Some of the factors are manageable, while others are external to the companies. ATD needs to be made visible, in order to postpone the crises according to the strategic goals of the companies. There is a need for practices and automated tools to proactively manage ATD.

1 Previous applications of the mating disruption technique to Neodiprion sertifer resulted in decreased numbers of males caught in the treated area but no effect on sex ratio or overall population density. 2 The present study assessed the efficacy of mating disruption against N. sertifer outbreaks in pine stands surrounded by agricultural areas or pasture, and therefore isolated from other infested areas. 3 Pine stands were treated by placing dispensers with an erythro-mixture of the acetate ester of 3,7-dimethyl-2-pentadecanol every 10 m in a grid. 4 The efficacy of this technique was evaluated by comparing the number of males caught in sticky traps baited with synthetic pheromone, and by comparing the sex ratio and the population density of the sawfly in the subsequent generation between treated and control pine stands. 5 The number of males caught within treated areas was significantly lower than in the control area. 6 In the treated pine stands 46% of the egg clusters resulted in male cocoons only, compared to 3% of the clusters in the control stand. 7 A significant reduction of the sawfly population was observed in the treated pine stands. The results contrast to the earlier mating disruption attempts with N. sertifer and can probably be ascribed to the isolation of the experimental stands. (Less)

A known problem in large software companies is to balance the return on investment coming from short-term and long-term business goals dependent on the responsiveness of the companies. In the previous chapter we have found challenges in interactions between the Agile team and other parts of the organization. We have conducted an investigation on three large product line companies employing Agile software development in order to find practices that would mitigate the challenges.

A known problem in large software companies is to balance the return on investment coming from short-term and long-term business goals dependent on the responsiveness of the companies. We have conducted an investigation on three large product line companies employing Agile software development (ASD) to better understand this problem: we have recognized several challenges that were hindering one or both kinds of business goals. Interaction challenges were quite critical among the Agile teams but also between the Agile team and other parts of the organization, such as architects and product management. We also further investigated which root factors were behind the interaction challenges, what symptoms can be recognized in the organization to spot the interaction challenges, and how they were related to the recent employment of ASD in the companies.

Agile software development is broadly adopted in industry and works well for small-scale projects. In the context of large-scale development, however, there is a need for additional structure in the form of roles and practices, especially in the area of software architecture. In this chapter, we introduce the CAFFEA framework that defines a model for architecture governance. The framework defines three roles, i.e., chief architect, governance architect, and team architect, as well as a set of practices and responsibilities assigned to these roles. The CAFFEA framework has been developed and validated in close collaboration with several companies.

Sesamia nonagrioides (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae reared under long day (LD; 16L:8D) conditions pupate after 5 or 6 larval instars, whereas under short day (SD; 12L:12D) conditions they undergo up to 12 additional molts before pupating. This extended period of repeated molting is maintained by high levels of juvenile hormone (JH). Previous work demonstrated that both LD and SD larvae decapitated in the 6th instar pupate but further development is halted. By contrast, about one-third of SD larvae from which only the brain has been removed, undergo first a larval molt, then pupate and subsequently developed to the adult stage. Debrained LD larvae molt to larvae exceptionally but regularly pupate and produce adults. Implanted brains may induce several larval molts in debrained recipient larvae irrespectively of the photoperiodic conditions. The results of present work demonstrate that the prothoracic glands (PGs) and the corpora allata (CA) of debrained larvae continue to produce ecdysteroids and JHs, respectively. PGs are active also in the decapitated larvae that lack JH, consistent with the paradigm that CA, which are absent in the decapitated larvae, are the only source of this hormone. Completion of the pupal-adult transformation in both LD and SD debrained insects demonstrates that brain is not crucial for the development of S. nonagrioides but is required for diapause maintenance. Application of JH to headless pupae induces molting, presumably by activating their PGs. It is likely that JH plays this role also in the induction of pupal-adult transformation in debrained insects. Application of the ecdysteroid agonist RH 2485 (methoxyfenozide) to headless pupae also elicits molting: newly secreted cuticle is in some cases thin and indifferent, in other cases it bears distinct pupal or adult features.

Orientador: Maria Jose D'Elboux Diogo Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação Resumo: O objetivo desta pesquisa foi identificar associações entre dados sóciodemográficos, de saúde física, antropométricos e de bem-estar subjetivo de 122 idosos atendidos em ambulatório de hospital universitário, e a sua capacidade funcional motora e cognitiva, que foi avaliada por meio da Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), do Mini-Exame do Estado Mental (MEEM) e da Medida de Independência Funcional (MIF), de acordo com gênero e faixa etária, verificando também associações entre estes. Foram observadas correlações significativas entre os escores dos três últimos e também entre estes e os outros indicadores. Os homens tiveram maiores rendimento mensal e escores antropométricos. As mulheres tiveram desempenho inferior nos testes SPPB, MEEM e MIF, e pior saúde percebida comparada. Entre grupos etários de 60 a 69, 70 a 79, e 80 anos ou mais, o último apresentou escores ou medidas menores em relação aos outros dois nas medidas antropométricas, na SPPB e no MEEM, mas teve maior bem-estar subjetivo. O número de doenças em prontuário associou-se positivamente ao índice de massa corpórea (IMC) e às circunferências de braço e quadril, e negativamente à pontuação de equilíbrio da SPPB. O número de medicamentos em uso associou-se positivamente ao de doenças, ao peso, ao IMC, e às circunferências de braço, cintura e quadril. Concluiu-se que os testes funcionais se associaram significativamente a outros indicadores de saúde, e que a SPPB e o MEEM, testes de observação direta do desempenho motor e cognitivo, respectivamente, complementaram os dados da MIF, um instrumento que avalia independência funcional em seus aspectos motores e cognitivo-sociais por meio do relato do próprio examinando ou de terceiro Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify associations among sociodemographic, physical health, anthropometric and subjective well-being data in 122 ambulatory elders of university hospital, and their motor and cognitive functional capacity, evaluated by means of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), in accordance with gender and age group, also verifying associations between these instruments. Significant correlations were found among the scores of the three functional tests, and also between their scores and those of other indicators. Men had greater monthly income and anthropometric scores. Women had lower performance in SPPB, MMSE and FIM tests, and worse compared perceived health. Among the age groups 60 to 69, 70 to 79 and 80 or more years old, the last one had lower scores than the others in anthropometric measures, SPPB and MMSE. On the other hand, this group had higher scores of subjective well-being. The number of registered diseases was positively associated with body mass index (BMI), upper arm, waist and hip circumference, and had negative correlation with the balance component of SPPB. The number of medicines in use was positively correlated with number of diseases, body weight, BMI, upper arm, waist and hip circumference. It was concluded that the functional tests were significantly associated with other health indicators, and also that SPPB and MMSE, motor and cognitive performance measures, respectively, complemented FIM, an instrument of reported functional independence in motor, cognitive and social activities Doutorado Educação, Sociedade, Politica e Cultura Doutor em Educação

We report here a glycogen storage myopathy type V associated with multifocal encephalopathy. The patient, a 43-year-old male with increased serum CK, a heavy drinker and smoker, had been affected by generalized epilepsy since age 24, after a cranial injury. He had had a right hemiparesis 2 years before coming to our observation and a transient left hemiparesis the following year. CT and MRI of the brain showed multiple hemispheric lesions consistent with an ischemic process, as suggested by single photon emission tomography of the brain. Muscle biopsy showed a vacuolar myopathy, and myophosphorylase activity was 13% of the normal mean. Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) performed on resting calf muscles showed increased PCr to ATP and decreased PCr to P(i) ratios. During both aerobic and ischemic exercise 31P-MRS failed to show any cytosolic acidification and phosphomonoesters (PME) accumulation, two MRS findings in agreement with McArdle's syndrome diagnosis. Mitochondrial respiration was also affected as shown by a low PCr to P(i) ratio at rest and by a low rate of PCr re-synthesis during recovery from aerobic exercise. This latter finding in McArdle's disease can be explained by decreased mitochondrial substrate availability, which in turn can contribute to the phenotypic manifestations of the disease.

As part of a prospective study, the influence of several premorbid and environmental factors on the presence, extent and severity of cerebral vessel atherosclerosis was studied in 462 patients with clinical diagnosis of RIA who underwent cerebral angiography. The extent and severity of atherosclerosis of the cerebral vessels was quantified using extracranial and intracranial cerebrovascular scores (ECS, ICS) based on the number and severity of the lesions in 11 extracranial and 21 intracranial arterial segments. Results of univariate and multivariate analyses indicate that the presence of atherosclerotic changes of cerebral vessels, as shown by angiography, was strongly related with age in both sexes. The lesions were more frequent in males, in particular under age 55. Elevated cholesterol was associated with a higher incidence of atherosclerotic lesions. Smoking was associated with a higher incidence of extracranial lesions. Age, smoking and history of hypertension were the best predictors of the extent and severity of cerebral vessel atherosclerosis.

Orientador: Maria da Consolação Gomes Cunha Fernandes Tavares Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação Física Resumo: A imagem corporal é a representação mental do corpo existencial. É um processo dinâmico, singular e estruturado nas experiências corporais do sujeito. Graças ao dinamismo da imagem corporal, é possível haver adaptação e desenvolvimento dessa imagem mesmo com as constantes alterações que ocorrem nas dimensões física, psíquica e social, vivenciadas pelo idoso em detrimento ao processo de envelhecimento. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi traduzir, adaptar transculturalmente e validar para a língua portuguesa no Brasil as escalas Body Apreciation Scale, Life satisfaction Index for the Third Age e Aging Perception Questionnaire em idosos brasileros. A pesquisa compreendeu duas fases: (1) tradução e adaptação cultural das escalas e (2) Avaliação psicométrica das escalas. Para a realização da primeira fase - tradução e adaptação transcultural das escalas - procedemos com as recomendações do Guia American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons/Institute of Work & Health. (BEATON et al, 2002) seguindo cinco etapas que constou de tradução, síntese das traduções, retrotradução, comitê de peritos e pre-teste. Apenas na última etapa, o pre-teste, seguimos as recomendações de Malhotra (2006) e Ferreira et al. (2011). Na segunda fase da pesquisa, procedemos com a análise psicométrica dos instrumentos, desse modo, estabelecemos evidências de validade do constructo e confiabilidade interna das três escalas através da análise fatorial confirmatória em uma amostra não probabilística de 606 idosos, com idade superior a 60 anos. Todas as escalas reportaram confiabilidade interna, com valores de Alpha de Cronbach e confiabilidade composta adequados, bem como, estabelecemos validade convergente e discriminante. De uma forma geral, para as escalas BAS, LSITA e APQ, a amostra reportou respectivamente, apreciação corporal, satisfação com a vida e percepção positiva do envelhecimento. Pesquisas futuras poderiam investigar a associação desses constructos com outros aspectos inerentes ao processo de envelhecimento utilizando amostras probabilísticas e estudo com desenhos metodológicos diferentes, como por exemplo, longitudinais. Além disso, poderiam investigar a relação de causalidade, através da Modelagem de Equação Estrutural, entre os três constructos. Concluindo, acreditamos que a tradução, adaptação transcultural e a realização dos estudos psicométricos das escalas podem contribuir para as áreas de saúde e social na compreensão do comportamento da imagem corporal na velhice Abstract: The body image is the mental representation of the existential body. It is a dynamic, singular and structured process in the one's body experience. Due to the body image dynamism it is possible to have adaption and development of this image, even with the constant changes that occur in the, physical, psychic and social dimensions lived by the elderly rather than the aging process. The aim of this research was to adapt transculturally and to validate to the Brazil's Portuguese language the scales Body Appreciation Scale, Life satisfaction Index for the Third Age and Aging Perception Questionnaire in the Brazilian elderly. The research comprised in two phases: (1) translation and cultural adaptation of the scales and (2) psychometric evaluation of the scales. To accomplish the first phase - translation and adaptation of the scales -the procedure was according to the recommendations of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons/Institute of Work & Health. (BEATON et al, 2002) following five steps which consisted of translation, back translation, experts committee, and pre-test. Just in the last step, the pre-test, it was followed the Malhotra (2006) and Ferreira et al., (2011) recommendations. On the second phase of the research, the procedure was with the psychometric analysis of the instruments, so that, it was established evidences of the construct validation and internal reliability of the three scales through the confirmatory factorial analysis in a non-probabilistic sample of 606 elderly, over 60 years. All the scales reported internal reliability, with Cronbach alpha values and appropriated composed reliability as the discriminant and convergent validation. In general, for the scales BAS, LSITA e APQ, the sample reported respectively, body appreciation, life satisfaction and positive aging perception. Future researches could investigate the association of those constructs with other intrinsic aspects to the aging process using probabilistic samples and studies with different methodological drawings, as for instance, longitudinal. Besides they could investigate causality relation, through Structural Equation Modeling, among the three constructs. However, it was believed that the translation, transcultural adaptation and the accomplishment of the psychometric studies of the scales can bring contribution to the health and social areas into the understanding of the behavior of the body image during the old age Doutorado Atividade Física Adaptada Doutor em Educação Física