19,988 research outputs found
Out-Of-Place debugging: a debugging architecture to reduce debugging interference
Context. Recent studies show that developers spend most of their programming
time testing, verifying and debugging software. As applications become more and
more complex, developers demand more advanced debugging support to ease the
software development process.
Inquiry. Since the 70's many debugging solutions were introduced. Amongst
them, online debuggers provide a good insight on the conditions that led to a
bug, allowing inspection and interaction with the variables of the program.
However, most of the online debugging solutions introduce \textit{debugging
interference} to the execution of the program, i.e. pauses, latency, and
evaluation of code containing side-effects.
Approach. This paper investigates a novel debugging technique called
\outofplace debugging. The goal is to minimize the debugging interference
characteristic of online debugging while allowing online remote capabilities.
An \outofplace debugger transfers the program execution and application state
from the debugged application to the debugger application, both running in
different processes.
Knowledge. On the one hand, \outofplace debugging allows developers to debug
applications remotely, overcoming the need of physical access to the machine
where the debugged application is running. On the other hand, debugging happens
locally on the remote machine avoiding latency. That makes it suitable to be
deployed on a distributed system and handle the debugging of several processes
running in parallel.
Grounding. We implemented a concrete out-of-place debugger for the Pharo
Smalltalk programming language. We show that our approach is practical by
performing several benchmarks, comparing our approach with a classic remote
online debugger. We show that our prototype debugger outperforms by a 1000
times a traditional remote debugger in several scenarios. Moreover, we show
that the presence of our debugger does not impact the overall performance of an
application.
Importance. This work combines remote debugging with the debugging experience
of a local online debugger. Out-of-place debugging is the first online
debugging technique that can minimize debugging interference while debugging a
remote application. Yet, it still keeps the benefits of online debugging ( e.g.
step-by-step execution). This makes the technique suitable for modern
applications which are increasingly parallel, distributed and reactive to
streams of data from various sources like sensors, UI, network, etc
Instances and connectors : issues for a second generation process language
This work is supported by UK EPSRC grants GR/L34433 and GR/L32699Over the past decade a variety of process languages have been defined, used and evaluated. It is now possible to consider second generation languages based on this experience. Rather than develop a second generation wish list this position paper explores two issues: instances and connectors. Instances relate to the relationship between a process model as a description and the, possibly multiple, enacting instances which are created from it. Connectors refers to the issue of concurrency control and achieving a higher level of abstraction in how parts of a model interact. We believe that these issues are key to developing systems which can effectively support business processes, and that they have not received sufficient attention within the process modelling community. Through exploring these issues we also illustrate our approach to designing a second generation process language.Postprin
Monitoring the response of canine hyperadrenocorticism to trilostane treatment by assessment of acute phase protein concentrations
<b>Background</b>: Acute phase proteins (APPS) include haptoglobin (Hp), C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA). Increased Hp concentrations may be induced by endogenous or exogenous glucocorticoids in dogs.
<b>Objectives</b>: To assess whether control of hyperadrenocorticism (HAC) affects the concentrations of Hp, CRP, SAA, alkaline phosphatase (ALKP) and cholesterol, to determine whether these analytes can be used to assess control of HAC following trilostane treatment, and whether a combination of these tests offers a valid method of assessing disease control.
<b>Methods</b>: Hp, CRP, SAA, ALKP and cholesterol were assessed in 11 dogs with spontaneous HAC before and after treatment with trilostane. Adequate control of HAC was defined as post-ACTH cortisol less than 150 nmol/l.
<b>Results</b>: Significant reductions in Hp, ALKP, cholesterol and SAA (P<0·05) but not of CRP were found after control of HAC. Only Hp, cholesterol and ALKP were moderately informative (Se & Sp>0·7) of disease control when compared to adrenocorticotropin or corticotropin (ACTH) stimulation test. SAA and CRP were unhelpful (Se & Sp<0·7). The analysis of the combination of the analytes did not improve the correlation with ACTH stimulation test.
<b>Clinical Relevance</b>: Relying on these analytes does not provide additional information over ACTH stimulation test results when assessing control of HAC treated with trilostane
Product Focused Freeform Fabrication Education
Presented in this paper is our experience of teaching freeform fabrication to students at
the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and to high school students and
teachers. The emphasis of the curriculum is exposing students to rapid product
development technologies with the goal of creating awareness to emerging career
opportunities in CAD/CAM. Starting from solid modeling, principles of freeform
fabrication, to applications of rapid prototyping and manufacturing in industry sponsored
product development projects, students can learn in-depth freeform fabrication
technologies. Interactive course content with hands-on experience for product
development is the key towards the success of the program.Mechanical Engineerin
Adapting discrete goods supply chains to support mass customisation of pharmaceutical products
Emerging research within the field of personalised medicines has aimed to enhance patient treatment through the use of pharmaceutical products that are customized to the individual needs and preferences of the patient. The currently dominant production platforms of pharmaceutical products, however, regard a mass production paradigm and are thus unfeasible for the production and provision of personalised medicines. The production platforms are not designed or are intended for a customisation context. Operating such a context with the current supply chain entails challenges such as increasing costs, time to patient and efforts in quality assurance activities. To address these challenges, this paper presents four reconfigured pharmaceutical supply chain designs. A qualitative operational performance assessment elicits the strengths and weaknesses of the respective supply chain design operating in a customisation context. The results suggest that a later point of variegation, i.e., the point in the supply chain where the final customisation is achieved, can relieve the operational effort of the stakeholders in the supply chain while providing the benefits of personalised medicines, i.e., an enhanced treatment outcome of the patient. A trade-off remains, however, between the supply chain’s decreased operational effort and degree of necessary reconfigurations, such as introducing new functions to stakeholder operation, reallocating activities to other stakeholders or educating stakeholders
Enforcement in Dynamic Spectrum Access Systems
The spectrum access rights granted by the Federal government to spectrum users come with the expectation of protection from harmful interference. As a consequence of the growth of wireless demand and services of all types, technical progress enabling smart agile radio networks, and on-going spectrum management reform, there is both a need and opportunity to use and share spectrum more intensively and dynamically. A key element of any framework for managing harmful interference is the mechanism for enforcement of those rights. Since the rights to use spectrum and to protection from harmful interference vary by band (licensed/unlicensed, legacy/newly reformed) and type of use/users (primary/secondary, overlay/underlay), it is reasonable to expect that the enforcement mechanisms may need to vary as well.\ud
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In this paper, we present a taxonomy for evaluating alternative mechanisms for enforcing interference protection for spectrum usage rights, with special attention to the potential changes that may be expected from wider deployment of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) systems. Our exploration of how the design of the enforcement regime interacts with and influences the incentives of radio operators under different rights regimes and market scenarios is intended to assist in refining thinking about appropriate access rights regimes and how best to incentivize investment and growth in more efficient and valuable uses of the radio frequency spectrum
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