The Sensoria Approach Applied to the Finance Case Study

This chapter provides an effective implementation of (part of) the Sensoria approach, specifically modelling and formal analysis of service-oriented software based on mathematically founded techniques. The ‘Finance case study’ is used as a test bed for demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of the use of the process calculus COWS and some of its related analysis techniques and tools. In particular, we report the results of an application of a temporal logic and its model checker for expressing and checking functional properties of services and a type system for guaranteeing confidentiality properties of services

Kolmogorov's law for two-dimensional electron-magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

The analogue of the Kolmogorov's four-fifths law is derived for two-dimensional, homogeneous, isotropic EMHD turbulence in the energy cascade inertial range. Direct numerical simulations for the freely decaying case show that this relation holds true for different values of the adimensional electron inertial length scale, $d_e$. The energy spectrum is found to be close to the expected Kolmogorov spectrum.Comment: 9 pages RevTeX, 3 PostScript figure

Detection and identification of sparse audio tampering using distributed source coding and compressive sensing techniques

In most practical applications, for the sake of information integrity not only it is useful to detect whether a multimedia content has been modified or not, but also to identify which kind of attack has been carried out. In the case of audio streams, for example, it may be useful to localize the tamper in the time and/or frequency domain. In this paper we devise a hash-based tampering detection and localization system exploiting compressive sensing principles. The multimedia content provider produces a small hash signature using a limited number of random projections of a time-frequency representation of the original audio stream. At the content user side, the hash signature is used to estimate the distortion between the original and the received stream and, provided that the tamper is sufficiently sparse or sparsifiable in some orthonormal basis expansion or redundant dictionary (e.g. DCT or wavelet), to identify the time-frequency portion of the stream that has been manipulated. In order to keep the hash length small, the algorithm exploits distributed source coding techniques

Identification of Sparse Audio Tampering Using Distributed Source Coding and Compressive Sensing Techniques

In the past few years, a large amount of techniques have been proposed to identify whether a multimedia content has been illegally tampered or not. Nevertheless, very few efforts have been devoted to identifying which kind of attack has been carried out, especially due to the large data required for this task. We propose a novel hashing scheme which exploits the paradigms of compressive sensing and distributed source coding to generate a compact hash signature, and we apply it to the case of audio content protection. The audio content provider produces a small hash signature by computing a limited number of random projections of a perceptual, time-frequency representation of the original audio stream; the audio hash is given by the syndrome bits of an LDPC code applied to the projections. At the content user side, the hash is decoded using distributed source coding tools. If the tampering is sparsifiable or compressible in some orthonormal basis or redundant dictionary, it is possible to identify the time-frequency position of the attack, with a hash size as small as 200 bits/second; the bit saving obtained by introducing distributed source coding ranges between 20% to 70%

Comparison of AlphaLISA and RIA assays for measurement of wool cortisol concentrations

Radioimmunoassay (RIA) methods have always represented a technique of choice for the determination of steroids in biological samples. The Amplified Luminescent Proximity Homogenous Assay-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (AlphaLISA) is now emerging as the new-generation immunoassay technology that does not require washing/separation steps. The aim of this study was to adapt the Perkin-Elmer's AlphaLISA kit for wool cortisol and compare it with a RIA wool cortisol assay. Wool from lambs, 35 at birth (A0) and 54 at two months old (A2), was collected and each extract was evaluated for wool cortisol concentrations (HCC) both by RIA and AlphaLISA immunoassay. The two methods showed good precision, sensitivity and specificity for determining HCC. Both methods were able to detect significant differences between the high and the low HCC assessed in lambs at A0 and A2 (P < 0.01). The HCC assessed with RIA were significantly higher than those assessed with AlphaLISA (P < 0.01). Moreover, the correlation between HCC measured using the AlphaLISA and RIA methods was strong (r = 0.878). The regression analyses show a constant and not proportional error. This could be due to the diversity in the dosage steps and to the diversity of the molecules used in the two methods. Results support the validity of using AlphaLISA as an alternative method to RIA for the quantification of cortisol in sheep wool and considering the performances showed it has a great potential to be further applied as an excellent tool to evaluate HCC in samples derived from animal species

Hipertiroidismo felino : caso clínico

Tras efectuar una revisión bibliográfica centrada en el diagnóstico clínico y laboratorial del hipertiroidismo felino, así como en el tratamiento mediante antitiroideos orales, el presente artículo describe un caso de esta patología felina geriátrica todavía poco frecuente en España. Posteriormente se discuten aspectos importantes del diagnóstico y tratamiento.After a bibliographic update focused on clinical and laboratorial diagnosis of feline hiperthyroidism, as well on its oral treatment, this article describes one case of this geriatric unfrequent disease in Spain. Then, important diagnostic and treatment issues are discussed

Gold(I)-Catalyzed Reactivity of Furan-ynes with N-Oxides: Synthesis of Substituted Dihydropyridinones and Pyranones

[Image: see text] The reactivity of “furan-ynes” in combination with pyridine and quinoline N-oxides in the presence of a Au(I) catalyst, has been studied, enabling the synthesis of three different heterocyclic scaffolds. Selective access to two out of the three possible products, a dihydropyridinone and a furan enone, has been achieved through the fine-tuning of the reaction conditions. The reactions proceed smoothly at room temperature and open-air, and were further extended to a broad substrate scope, thus affording functionalized dihydropyridinones and pyranones

Postnatal and postweaning endocrine setting in dairy calves through hair cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate

Importance of the work: The care of calves on dairy farms between birth and weaning can improve their long-term development and growth. In fact, a poor newborn health status and a high allostatic load may adversely affect development in dairy cows. To determine cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) individually is useful for an understanding of the individual state, being biomarkers of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Objectives: As a preliminary study, to investigate the hair concentrations of cortisol, DHEA, DHEA-S and their ratios in dairy calves in two key periods of their growth characterized by considerable environmental changes. Materials & Methods: Hair sampling was conducted on clinically healthy dairy calves during the postnatal period at age 64.8±0.65 d (POP; mean±standard error; n = 73) and during the postweaning period at age 155.3±0.85 d (PWP, n = 62). The hair hormone concentrations were measured using a radioimmunoassay. Results: Hair cortisol concentrations were higher in the POP than in the PWP. Furthermore, the cortisol:DHEA and cortisol:DHEA-S ratios were higher in the first period of evaluation, showing a higher animal allostatic load at birth. Main finding: Identification was achieved non-invasively of calves with a high allostatic load through biomarkers of HPA axis activity. The evaluation of this activity is very important given its influence on many biological processes, such as energy balance, development of the reproductive system and immune response