EXPRESS: EXPressing REstful Semantic Web Services

Existing approaches to Semantic Web Services (SWS) require both a domain ontology and a semantic description of the service. We propose EXPRESS a lightweight approach to SWS. Its simplicity stems from the similarities between REST and the Semantic Web such as resource-realization, self?describing representations, and uniform interfaces. The semantics of a service is elicited from the resource descriptions in the domain ontology and the semantics of the uniform interface, hence eliminating the need for ontologically describing services. In this poster we describe EXPRESS and show how it represents different service types. It also discusses our ongoing and future work on service discovery and choreograph

The Economy in the Aftermath of the Earthquake

In this study, we use simulations from the Social Policy and Development Centre’s large-scale empirical model of Pakistan’s economy to quantify the economic losses resulting from the devastating earthquake that hit the country on October 8, 2005. We then use the model to trace the path that the economy can be expected to follow under the relief and reconstruction assumptions that seem most plausible at present. The main results are as follows: First, the earthquake could initially shave off 1½ percentage points from economic growth. In the absence of reconstruction, this initial hit would lead to permanent losses of levels of the capital stock, consumption, and income that are substantial. Second, the assumed rebuilding effort of $5.8 billion over a five-year period will bring the economy back only half-way to the path that would have prevailed in the absence of the earthquake. Third, this rebuilding effort will be inflationary in the short run, and could add 2 percentage points to the rate of increase of consumer prices in 2005-06 and 1 percentage point the following year.Macroeconometric Modeling, Earth Quake, losses

EXPRESS: Resource-oriented and RESTful Semantic Web services

This thesis investigates an approach that simplifies the development of Semantic Web services (SWS) by removing the need for additional semantic descriptions.The most actively researched approaches to Semantic Web services introduce explicit semantic descriptions of services that are in addition to the existing semantic descriptions of the service domains. This increases their complexity and design overhead. The need for semantically describing the services in such approaches stems from their foundations in service-oriented computing, i.e. the extension of already existing service descriptions. This thesis demonstrates that adopting a resource-oriented approach based on REST will, in contrast to service-oriented approaches, eliminate the need for explicit semantic service descriptions and service vocabularies. This reduces the development efforts while retaining the significant functional capabilities.The approach proposed in this thesis, called EXPRESS (Expressing RESTful Semantic Services), utilises the similarities between REST and the Semantic Web, such as resource realisation, self-describing representations, and uniform interfaces. The semantics of a service is elicited from a resource’s semantic description in the domain ontology and the semantics of the uniform interface, hence eliminating the need for additional semantic descriptions. Moreover, stub-generation is a by-product of the mapping between entities in the domain ontology and resources.EXPRESS was developed to test the feasibility of eliminating explicit service descriptions and service vocabularies or ontologies, to explore the restrictions placed on domain ontologies as a result, to investigate the impact on the semantic quality of the description, and explore the benefits and costs to developers. To achieve this, an online demonstrator that allows users to generate stubs has been developed. In addition, a matchmaking experiment was conducted to show that the descriptions of the services are comparable to OWL-S in terms of their ability to be discovered, while improving the efficiency of discovery. Finally, an expert review was undertaken which provided evidence of EXPRESS’s simplicity and practicality when developing SWS from scratch

Resource Oriented Modelling: Describing Restful Web Services Using Collaboration Diagrams

The popularity of Resource Oriented and RESTful Web Services is increasing rapidly. In these, resources are key actors in the interfaces, in contrast to other approaches where services, messages or objects are. This distinctive feature necessitates a new approach for modelling RESTful interfaces providing a more intuitive mapping from model to implementation than could be achieved with non-resource methods. With this objective we propose an approach to describe Resource Oriented and RESTful Web Services based on UML collaboration diagrams. Then use it to model scenarios from several problem domains, arguing that Resource Oriented and RESTful Web Services can be used in systems which go beyond ad-hoc integration. Using the scenarios we demonstrate how the approach is useful for: eliciting domain ontologies; identifying recurring patterns; and capturing static and dynamic aspects of the interface

The effects of corporate social responsibility as market signals on consumer purchase intention and advertising skepticism in the fast fashion industry

Objectives Consumers who are becoming increasingly aware of a firm’s general practices tend to buy products that are environmentally friendly. Thus, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of CSR perception on purchase intention and skepticism in relation to the market signals in the fast-fashion industry. In addition, the conceptualization of the signaling theory and belief in a just-world theory was presented through the creation of an advertisement that allowed the respondents to contribute to local producers through a charitable donation. Summary A quantitative survey was conducted where two sets of H&M advertisements were presented to the respondents (N= 233); one pertaining to verbal information related to the product and the other with numerical information either 67% or 70% recycled content and 20% or 50% contribution amount attempting to engage the consumer in the firm’s CSR activities. The participants’ purchase intention and advertising skepticism were measured both after the first and second advertisements. Conclusions Results indicated that CSR perception is a significant predictor of purchase intention and skepticism towards advertising (p0.05)

Measure of covertness based on the imperfect synchronization of an eavesdropper in Random Communication Systems

10th International Conference on Electrical and Electronics Engineering, ELECO 2017; Bursa; Turkey; 29 November 2017 through 2 December 2017Random Communication Systems (RCSs) given in the literature have assumed perfectly synchronized transmitter and receiver. However in this paper, instead of assuming perfect synchronization approach in RCSs, the effects of imperfect synchronization (IS) on Skewed Alpha-Stable Noise Shift Keying (SkaS-NSK) based RCS have been observed through simulations. The Bit Error Rate (BER) performance of the eavesdropper with respect to his synchronization error in SkaS-NSK based RCS, has been analyzed. An expression for the probability of an eavesdropper to decode the binary information (i.e., Eavesdropping Probability) in SkaS-NSK based RCS, has been derived. The criterion (i.e., Covertness Value) to measure the covertness level of RCSs has also been proposed. The BER performance of an eavesdropper provides an approximate margin of synchronization error if it can be overcome by an eavesdropper then he can achieve the decoding (i.e., eavesdropping) process

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) as a new biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and drug resistance

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignant liver tumor that commonly occurs as a progression of chronic liver inflammation due to long-standing viral hepatitis infection, toxins, metabolic conditions, and congenital disorders. In 2018, HCC was the 4th leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, accounting for approximately 780,000 deaths in total. HCC’s prognosis is directly correlated with early detection. Unfortunately, HCC has an asymptomatic pattern of growth in the early stages of the disease which makes early detection challenging. When HCC progresses to advanced stages, it leaves clinicians with limited therapeutic and curative options, leading to high rates of morbidity and mortality. In general, one major hurdle in treating advanced cancer is that cancer cells develop drug resistance. Research studies have elucidated the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in progression and drug resistance in various cancers such as bladder cancer, prostate cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-coding RNA segments that are \u3e200 nucleotides long that play various roles in biological processes regarding DNA, RNA, and protein regulation. In carcinogenesis, lncRNAs can promote growth and differentiation of cancer stem cell populations, promoting chemoresistance and tumor recurrence. The role of lncRNAs in the chemoresistance of HCC has not been well-studied. There is a need to uncover novel lncRNA biomarkers for both the early detection of HCC and to create drug strategies for clinicians when predicting chemoresistance. The goal of our review is three-fold. Firstly, we aim to describe HCC risk factors, the pathologic progression of HCC from benign pathologies such as viral hepatitis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), current diagnostic standards and challenges, and approved treatment options for HCC. Secondly, we aim to explain the molecular role of lncRNAs in cancer progression and drug resistance. Lastly, we aim to compile a comprehensive list of studied lncRNAs involved in HCC progression and drug resistance, their mechanisms of action, their binding partners, and the impact these lncRNAs had on metastatic potential and tumor proliferation. Additionally, we aim to include a list of proteins involved in HCC and their interactions with lncRNAs

CMOS Impedance Measurement Array for Cell Sensing

Impedance measurement plays a vital role in determining the physical and chemical properties of live cells under different environmental conditions and aids in the development of cellular models for life science research and new medicines to fight disease. In order to improve the fidelity and spatial resolution of bio-impedance measurement systems, cell sensing platforms are being constructed using silicon chips where live cells interact with integrated microelectronic sensors through an on-chip electrode array. Our proposed complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor array measures the impedance of complex cellular samples using a mixed-signal-based frequency response analysis (FRA) approach to extract and convert the real and imaginary parts of the cell impedance. The system is implemented using a synchronous voltage-to-frequency converter designed to operate over an input frequency range from 0.7 Hz to 2 kHz with a programmable nominal resolution up to 16 bits. Unlike previous work, we apply a switched-capacitor-based offset correction scheme to reduce the effect of multiplying integrator input offset on the sensor interface. The chip features an 8×6 surface electrode array of individually-addressable working electrodes connected to four independent impedance extraction channels for parallel data readout. The device is fabricated in a standard 0.18 µm CMOS technology, where each sensor channel consumes only 94 µW from a 1.8 V supply, and has been experimentally verified to provide linear conversion over an input current amplitude range from 40 pA to 60 nA.1 yea