A specification-based QoS-aware design framework for service-based applications

Effective and accurate service discovery and composition rely on complete specifications of service behaviour, containing inputs and preconditions that are required before service execution, outputs, effects and ramifications of a successful execution and explanations for unsuccessful executions. The previously defined Web Service Specification Language (WSSL) relies on the fluent calculus formalism to produce such rich specifications for atomic and composite services. In this work, we propose further extensions that focus on the specification of QoS profiles, as well as partially observable service states. Additionally, a design framework for service-based applications is implemented based on WSSL, advancing state of the art by being the first service framework to simultaneously provide several desirable capabilities, such as supporting ramifications and partial observability, as well as non-determinism in composition schemas using heuristic encodings; providing explanations for unexpected behaviour; and QoS-awareness through goal-based techniques. These capabilities are illustrated through a comparative evaluation against prominent state-of-the-art approaches based on a typical SBA design scenario

Large Scale Air Shower Simulations and the Search for New Physics at AUGER

Large scale airshower simulations around the GZK cutoff are performed. An extensive analysis of the behaviour of the various subcomponents of the cascade is presented. We focus our investigation both on the study of total and partial multiplicities along the entire atmosphere and on the geometrical structure of the various cascades, in particular on the lateral distributions. The possibility of detecting new physics in Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) at AUGER is also investigated. We try to disentangle effects due to standard statistical fluctuations in the first proton impact in the shower formation from the underlying interaction and comment on these points. We argue that theoretical models predicting large missing energy may have a chance to be identified, once the calibration errors in the energy measurements are resolved by the experimental collaborations, in measurements of inclusive multiplicities.Comment: 35 pages. Standard LaTeX. 36 figure

Modelling and interpreting spectral energy distributions of galaxies with BEAGLE

We present a new-generation tool to model and interpret spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies, which incorporates in a consistent way the production of radiation and its transfer through the interstellar and intergalactic media. This flexible tool, named BEAGLE (for BayEsian Analysis of GaLaxy sEds), allows one to build mock galaxy catalogues as well as to interpret any combination of photometric and spectroscopic galaxy observations in terms of physical parameters. The current version of the tool includes versatile modeling of the emission from stars and photoionized gas, attenuation by dust and accounting for different instrumental effects, such as spectroscopic flux calibration and line spread function. We show a first application of the BEAGLE tool to the interpretation of broadband SEDs of a published sample of ${\sim}10^4$ galaxies at redshifts $0.1 \lesssim z\lesssim8$. We find that the constraints derived on photometric redshifts using this multi-purpose tool are comparable to those obtained using public, dedicated photometric-redshift codes and quantify this result in a rigorous statistical way. We also show how the post-processing of BEAGLE output data with the Python extension PYP-BEAGLE allows the characterization of systematic deviations between models and observations, in particular through posterior predictive checks. The modular design of the BEAGLE tool allows easy extensions to incorporate, for example, the absorption by neutral galactic and circumgalactic gas, and the emission from an active galactic nucleus, dust and shock-ionized gas. Information about public releases of the BEAGLE tool will be maintained on http://www.jacopochevallard.org/beagle.Comment: added missing term in equation 4.1 (Erratum submitted to MNRAS

Logic programming for deliberative robotic task planning

Over the last decade, the use of robots in production and daily life has increased. With increasingly complex tasks and interaction in different environments including humans, robots are required a higher level of autonomy for efficient deliberation. Task planning is a key element of deliberation. It combines elementary operations into a structured plan to satisfy a prescribed goal, given specifications on the robot and the environment. In this manuscript, we present a survey on recent advances in the application of logic programming to the problem of task planning. Logic programming offers several advantages compared to other approaches, including greater expressivity and interpretability which may aid in the development of safe and reliable robots. We analyze different planners and their suitability for specific robotic applications, based on expressivity in domain representation, computational efficiency and software implementation. In this way, we support the robotic designer in choosing the best tool for his application

Survival of the cheapest: How proteome cost minimization drives evolution

Darwin's theory of evolution emphasized that positive selection of functional proficiency provides the fitness that ultimately determines the structure of life, a view that has dominated biochemical thinking of enzymes as perfectly optimized for their specific functions. The 20th-century modern synthesis, structural biology, and the central dogma explained the machinery of evolution, and nearly neutral theory explained how selection competes with random fixation dynamics that produce molecular clocks essential e.g. for dating evolutionary histories. However, the quantitative proteomics revealed that fitness effects not related to functional proficiency play much larger roles on long evolutionary time scales than previously thought, with particular evidence that some universal biophysical selection pressures act via protein expression levels. This paper first summarizes recent progress in the 21st century towards recovering this universal selection pressure. Then, the paper argues that proteome cost minimization is the dominant, underlying "non-function" selection pressure controlling most of the evolution of already functionally adapted living systems. A theory of proteome cost minimization is described and argued to have consequences for understanding evolutionary trade-offs, aging, cancer, and neurodegenerative protein-misfolding diseases

Aquaculture systems modeling: an introduction with emphasis on warmwater aquaculture

An introduction to modeling is presented. The basic concepts of systems and models and various types of models and their use in research and in management are described. Guidelines for modeling aquaculture systems are presented: empirical models for the analysis of multivariate datasets and theoretical models based on knowledge of the various processes underlying a system. Examples of two modeling approaches to the production of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in ricefields are given in an appendix.Aquaculture systems, Warm-water aquaculture, Modelling

Intracellular sodium elevation reprograms cardiac metabolism

Intracellular Na elevation in the heart is a hallmark of pathologies where both acute and chronic metabolic remodelling occurs. Here, we assess whether acute (75 μM ouabain 100 nM blebbistatin) or chronic myocardial Nai load (PLM3SA mouse) are causally linked to metabolic remodelling and whether the failing heart shares a common Na-mediated metabolic ‘fingerprint’. Control (PLMWT), transgenic (PLM3SA), ouabain-treated and hypertrophied Langendorff-perfused mouse hearts are studied by 23Na, 31P, 13C NMR followed by 1H-NMR metabolomic profiling. Elevated Nai leads to common adaptive metabolic alterations preceding energetic impairment: a switch from fatty acid to carbohydrate metabolism and changes in steady-state metabolite concentrations (glycolytic, anaplerotic, Krebs cycle intermediates). Inhibition of mitochondrial Na/Ca exchanger by CGP37157 ameliorates the metabolic changes. In silico modelling indicates altered metabolic fluxes (Krebs cycle, fatty acid, carbohydrate, amino acid metabolism). Prevention of Nai overload or inhibition of Na/Camito may be a new approach to ameliorate metabolic dysregulation in heart failure