Implantación de técnicas de QA en un proyecto de desarrollo software

Hoy en día existe una preocupación creciente por la calidad del software entregado en los proyectos que se realizan a lo largo del mundo. El trabajo de fin de grado que va a ser desarrollado en estas páginas pretende demostrar la importancia de la realización de tests funcionales durante el proceso de desarrollo de software para que el proyecto alcance la calidad requerida tan demandada en estos días. Para ello, después de una pequeña introducción a la historia del software, se presentarán y compararán diversos tipos de metodologías de desarrollo de software, tanto pesadas (cascada, espiral, etc.) como ágiles (Extreme Programming y Scrum), se enfatizará en dichas metodologías ágiles y cómo el proceso de testing y control de calidad encaja perfectamente con la filosofía de las citadas metodologías ágiles. Se desarrollará una explicación del papel de QA en el desarrollo de software, asi como una explicación de los tipos de test existentes, y las herramientas, tecnologías y patrones que existen a disposición de aquellos que quieran desempeñar el papel de QA. Para complementar el punto de vista teórico de este trabajo se presentará un caso práctico real realizado en la empresa bq bajo una metodología Scrum. Dicho caso práctico muestra el uso de ciertas herramientas y su aporte para el control de calidad del proyecto bajo desarrollo, demostrando su importancia. Se realizará énfasis en el proceso de automatización de ciertas baterías de test (llamadas test suites), mostrando desde el planteamiento inicial de las diferentes historias de usuario y la batería de test, pasando por la elección de las tecnologías más adecuadas para la elaboración de los test hasta llegar al lanzamiento de dicha batería de pruebas y la comprobación de éstas. El punto de vista práctico quedará complementado por una explicación del framework nightwatch.js, framework utilizado en el desarrollo del proyecto en bq para la automatización de test funcionales. Esta explicación comprenderá tanto la configuración y uso del framework como el uso de patrones y la estructura de las pruebas. ABSTRACT Nowadays there is a growing concern about the Quality of the software delivered in the projects that are made all around the world. This final project will try to prove the importance of performing functional tests during the Software Development Process in order to be able to reach the demanded Quality. To fulfill this objective, different types of Software Development methodologies will be presented and compared. Heavy methodologies (waterfall, spiral methodologies, etc.) as well as agile methodologies (Extreme Programming and Scrum). There will be an emphasis in the second kind (agile methodologies) and how the testing and quality assurance process fits perfectly in their philosophy. A deep explanation of the role that Quality Assurance holds on software development will be presented, as well as an explanation on the current types of testing and an explanation of the different tools; technologies and patrons that exist to help anyone who wants to perform the role of QA. To complement the theoretical perspective of this work a real case study, performed at the company bq under a Scrum methodology, will be presented. The mentioned study covers the use of certain tools and their input for the quality assurance of the project under development, proving its relevance. Emphasis will be made in the process of conducting a set of tests (called test suite), showing from the initial approach of the different users stories and the set of tests, going through the choosing of the most suitable technologies for the tests development, and ending with the performance of this battery of tests and their checkout. The practical point of view will be complemented by a deep explanation of the creation process using the nightwatch.js automated test framework, used in the project in bq. This explanation will cover both the configuration and use of the framework as the use of patterns and structure of the tests.

T cell vaccination induces T cell receptor Vβ-specific Qa-1-restricted regulatory CD8+ T cells

Vaccination of mice with activated autoantigen-reactive CD4+ T cells (T cell vaccination, TCV) has been shown to induce protection from the subsequent induction of a variety of experimental autoimmune diseases, including experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Although the mechanisms involved in TCV-mediated protection are not completely known, there is some evidence that TCV induces CD8+ regulatory T cells that are specific for pathogenic CD4+ T cells. Previously, we demonstrated that, after superantigen administration in vivo, CD8+ T cells emerge that preferentially lyse and regulate activated autologous CD4+ T cells in a T cell receptor (TCR) Vβ-specific manner. This TCR Vβ-specific regulation is not observed in β2-microglobulin-deficient mice and is inhibited, in vitro, by antibody to Qa-1. We now show that similar Vβ8-specific Qa-1-restricted CD8+ T cells are also induced by TCV with activated CD4+ Vβ8+ T cells. These CD8+ T cells specifically lyse murine or human transfectants coexpressing Qa-1 and murine TCR Vβ8. Further, CD8+ T cell hybridoma clones generated from B10.PL mice vaccinated with a myelin basic protein-specific CD4+Vβ8+ T cell clone specifically recognize other CD4+ T cells and T cell tumors that express Vβ8 and the syngeneic Qa-1a but not the allogeneic Qa-1b molecule. Thus, Vβ-specific Qa-1-restricted CD8+ T cells are induced by activated CD4+ T cells. We suggest that these CD8+ T cells may function to specifically regulate activated CD4+ T cells during immune responses.

Efficient exchange of the primary quinone acceptor QA in isolated reaction centers of Rhodopseudomonas viridis

A key step in the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy by photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) occurs at the level of the two quinones, QA and QB, where electron transfer couples to proton transfer. A great deal of our understanding of the mechanisms of these coupled reactions relies on the seminal work of Okamura et al. [Okamura, M. Y., Isaacson, R. A., & Feher, G. (1975) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88, 3491–3495], who were able to extract with detergents the firmly bound ubiquinone QA from the RC of Rhodobacter sphaeroides and reconstitute the site with extraneous quinones. Up to now a comparable protocol was lacking for the RC of Rhodopseudomonas viridis despite the fact that its QA site, which contains 2-methyl-3-nonaprenyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (menaquinone-9), has provided the best x-ray structure available. Fourier transform infrared difference spectroscopy, together with the use of isotopically labeled quinones, can probe the interaction of QA with the RC protein. We establish that a simple incubation procedure of isolated RCs of Rp. viridis with an excess of extraneous quinone allows the menaquinone-9 in the QA site to be almost quantitatively replaced either by vitamin K1, a close analogue of menaquinone-9, or by ubiquinone. To our knowledge, this is the first report of quinone exchange in bacterial photosynthesis. The Fourier transform infrared data on the quinone and semiquinone vibrations show a close similarity in the bonding interactions of vitamin K1 with the protein at the QA site of Rp. viridis and Rb. sphaeroides, whereas for ubiquinone these interactions are significantly different. The results are interpreted in terms of slightly inequivalent quinone–protein interactions by comparison with the crystallographic data available for the QA site of the two RCs.

Treble clef finger—a functionally diverse zinc-binding structural motif

Detection of similarity is particularly difficult for small proteins and thus connections between many of them remain unnoticed. Structure and sequence analysis of several metal-binding proteins reveals unexpected similarities in structural domains classified as different protein folds in SCOP and suggests unification of seven folds that belong to two protein classes. The common motif, termed treble clef finger in this study, forms the protein structural core and is 25–45 residues long. The treble clef motif is assembled around the central zinc ion and consists of a zinc knuckle, loop, β-hairpin and an α-helix. The knuckle and the first turn of the helix each incorporate two zinc ligands. Treble clef domains constitute the core of many structures such as ribosomal proteins L24E and S14, RING fingers, protein kinase cysteine-rich domains, nuclear receptor-like fingers, LIM domains, phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate-binding domains and His-Me finger endonucleases. The treble clef finger is a uniquely versatile motif adaptable for various functions. This small domain with a 25 residue structural core can accommodate eight different metal-binding sites and can have many types of functions from binding of nucleic acids, proteins and small molecules, to catalysis of phosphodiester bond hydrolysis. Treble clef motifs are frequently incorporated in larger structures or occur in doublets. Present analysis suggests that the treble clef motif defines a distinct structural fold found in proteins with diverse functional properties and forms one of the major zinc finger groups.

Enhancing QA systems with complex temporal question processing capabilities

This paper presents a multilayered architecture that enhances the capabilities of current QA systems and allows different types of complex questions or queries to be processed. The answers to these questions need to be gathered from factual information scattered throughout different documents. Specifically, we designed a specialized layer to process the different types of temporal questions. Complex temporal questions are first decomposed into simple questions, according to the temporal relations expressed in the original question. In the same way, the answers to the resulting simple questions are recomposed, fulfilling the temporal restrictions of the original complex question. A novel aspect of this approach resides in the decomposition which uses a minimal quantity of resources, with the final aim of obtaining a portable platform that is easily extensible to other languages. In this paper we also present a methodology for evaluation of the decomposition of the questions as well as the ability of the implemented temporal layer to perform at a multilingual level. The temporal layer was first performed for English, then evaluated and compared with: a) a general purpose QA system (F-measure 65.47% for QA plus English temporal layer vs. 38.01% for the general QA system), and b) a well-known QA system. Much better results were obtained for temporal questions with the multilayered system. This system was therefore extended to Spanish and very good results were again obtained in the evaluation (F-measure 40.36% for QA plus Spanish temporal layer vs. 22.94% for the general QA system).

Going beyond traditional QA systems: challenges and keys in opinion question answering

The treatment of factual data has been widely studied in different areas of Natural Language Processing (NLP). However, processing subjective information still poses important challenges. This paper presents research aimed at assessing techniques that have been suggested as appropriate in the context of subjective - Opinion Question Answering (OQA). We evaluate the performance of an OQA with these new components and propose methods to optimally tackle the issues encountered. We assess the impact of including additional resources and processes with the purpose of improving the system performance on two distinct blog datasets. The improvements obtained for the different combination of tools are statistically significant. We thus conclude that the proposed approach is adequate for the OQA task, offering a good strategy to deal with opinionated questions.

Hādhā Majmūʻ muzdawijāt badīʻah mustaghribāt wa-qaṣāʼid ghazalīyāt ẓarīfah mustaḥsanāt turawwiḥu qulūb al-ʻushshāq wa-yaḥinnu ilayhā ṭaraban kull mushtāq

jamʻ Maḥmūd Afandī al-Jazāʼirī.

Hādhā mukhtaṣar kitāb Qaṭf al-azhār min al-Khiṭaṭ wa-al-āthār, mukhtaṣar al-Khiṭaṭ lil-Maqrīzī / lil-Shaykh al-Imām al-ʻĀlim al-ʻAllāmah ... Sibṭ Āl al-Ṣiddīq Mawlānā Abū al-Surūr al-Ṣiddīqī al-Bakrī : manuscript, undated

Written in several hands, in one column, from 17 to 25 lines per page, in black ink, framed within double red lines.

Sharḥ-i Qaṣīdah-ʼi Burdah : manuscript, 1661

Written in one column, 19 lines per page, in black rubricated in red. Portions of text underlined or punctuated in red

Sharḥ-i Qaṣīdah-ʼi Burdah : manuscript, undated

According to colophon (f. 64v), copy completed in the hand of Fatḥ Muḥammad walad Shaykh ʻAbd Allāh Sahrandī (?) on Muḥarram 25 (the year is not given).

Sharḥ-i Qaṣīdah-ʼi Burdah : manuscript, undated

Written in one column, 13 lines per page, in black ink.

Sharḥ Qaṣīdat Kaʻb ibn Zuhayr al-maʻrūfah bi-Bānat Suʻād / ikhtaṣarahu Sayyidunā al-Shaykh al-Imām al-ʻAllāmah Zayn al-Dīn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Khalīl al-Khaṭīb bi-ʻAyn al-Zaytūn min sharḥ Jamāl al-Dīn Ibn Hishām : manuscript

1498.

Shams al-hidāyah li-tidhkār ahl al-nihāyah wa-irshād ahl al-bidāyah: wa-hiya risālah fī al-qaḍāʼ ʻalá al-madhāhib al-arbaʻah

taʼlīf ʻAbd al-Qādir al-Shafshāwanī.

Hādhihi qaṣīdah jāmiʻah li-ghālib aḥwāl yawm al-qiyāmah wa-ismuhā Qilādat al-durr al-manthūr fī dhikr al-baʻth wa-al-nushūr : manuscript, undated

Paginated 1-5 in pencil in Arabic numerals.

Hādhihi al-qaṣīdah al-musammāh bi-Lāmīyat al-ʻajam / lil-Ṭughrāʼī : manuscript, 1567

With this is bound: Sharḥ al-Muthallathah (ff. 3v-4v) -- A poem (ff. 5v-6r) -- Muwashshaḥ fī al-naḥw / al-Suyūṭī (ff. 6v-10r) -- Qaṣīdat al-Shuhd / al-Suyūṭī (ff. 10v-11r) -- A poem (f. 11v) -- al-Tuḥaf wa-al-ṭuraf (ff. 12r-24v) -- al-Murūr bayna al-ʻalamayn ilá mufākharat al-Ḥaramayn / ʻAlī ibn Yūsuf al-Zarandī (ff. 24v-45v) -- Khuṭbat tafsīr / lil-Ḥusayn ibn Masʻūd al-Baghāwī (ff. 46v-52r) -- Prayers (ff. 52v-54r).