The cloud paradigm: Are you tuned for the lyrics?

Major players, business angels and opinion-makers are broadcasting beguiled lyrics on the most recent IT hype: your software should ascend to the clouds. There are many clouds and the stake is high. Distractedly, many of us became assiduous users of the cloud, but perhaps due to the legacy systems and legacy knowledge, IT professionals, mainly those many that work in business information systems for the long tail, are not as much plunged into producing cloud-based systems for their clients. This keynote will delve into several aspects of this cloud paradigm, from more generic concerns regarding security and value for money, to more specific worries that reach software engineers in general. Do we need a different software development process? Are development techniques and tools mature enough? What about the role of open-source in the cloud? How do we assess the quality in cloud-based development? Please stay tuned for more!Comment: Position paper to introduce a keynote, proceedings of WAMPS'2011 - VI Annual MPS.BR Workshop, pp. 20-25, Campinas, Brazil, October 201

Have Agriculture Green House Gas Emissions Converged among European Union Member States?

Panel unit root tests are used to identify convergence of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions among the agr icultural sectors of the European Union 27 member states. Although a clear cut conclusion on the existence of convergence could not be established, it looks like there is some evidence of convergence for EU 27 during the entire 1973-2007 period. This same evidence exists for EU15 but only for the shorter 1996-2006 time period. If emissions are to converge, then it will be easier to make EU members to accept policy measures aimed at reducing the negative impact on environment.

European Union Direct Payments to Farmers Revisited

A logistic function framework is used to allocate European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) direct payments to farmers among the different member states. Total CAP expenditure is the starting point for the process, which contemplates two phases. In Phase 1 expenditure is allocated by taking into consideration the economic dimension of farms in each country. In Phase 2 the amount allocated to each member state is further modulated to accommodate both economic efficiency and green house gas emissions generated by the country.

An alternative scheme to compute the Common Agricultural Policy direct payments to farmers.

An alternative to the direct payments modulation under CAP Regulation n. 2237/2003 is presented, using a logistic function model where payments to farmers are related to economic efficiency, environmental impact of agricultural production, and farmer’s income. The approach used develops into two phases: in phase one the focus is on modulation among countries; then in phase two redistribution among farmers within a Member State is contemplated.

The Common Agricultural Policy and the greenhouse gases emissions.

The evolution of greenhouse gases emissions in the EU-15 countries is accessed. While the absolute level of emissions turns out to be declining in the last thirty years in EU-15 Member States, emissions per output tend to rise. A relationship between the adoption of the Common Agricultural policy and the emissions level can be detected for Spain, Austria, Finland and Sweden.

Software evolution prediction using seasonal time analysis: a comparative study

Prediction models of software change requests are useful for supporting rational and timely resource allocation to the evolution process. In this paper we use a time series forecasting model to predict software maintenance and evolution requests in an open source software project (Eclipse), as an example of projects with seasonal release cycles. We build an ARIMA model based on data collected from Eclipse’s change request tracking system since the project’s start. A change request may refer to defects found in the software, but also to suggested improvements in the system under scrutiny. Our model includes the identification of seasonal patterns and tendencies, and is validated through the forecast of the change requests evolution for the next 12 months. The usage of seasonal information significantly improves the estimation ability of this model, when compared to other ARIMA models found in the literature, and does so for a much longer estimation period. Being able to accurately forecast the change requests’ evolution over a fairly long time period is an important ability for enabling adequate process control in maintenance activities, and facilitates effort estimation and timely resources allocation. The approach presented in this paper is suitable for projects with a relatively long history, as the model building process relies on historic data

Estimation of kinetic parameters related to biochemical interactions between hydrogen peroxide and signal transduction proteins

Copyright © 2014 Brito and Antunes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.The lack of kinetic data concerning the biological effects of reactive oxygen species is slowing down the development of the field of redox signaling. Herein, we deduced and applied equations to estimate kinetic parameters from typical redox signaling experiments. H2O2-sensing mediated by the oxidation of a protein target and the switch-off of this sensor, by being converted back to its reduced form, are the two processes for which kinetic parameters are determined. The experimental data required to apply the equations deduced is the fraction of the H2O2 sensor protein in the reduced or in the oxidized state measured in intact cells or living tissues after exposure to either endogenous or added H2O2. Either non-linear fittings that do not need transformation of the experimental data or linearized plots in which deviations from the equations are easily observed can be used. The equations were shown to be valid by fitting to them virtual time courses simulated with a kinetic model. The good agreement between the kinetic parameters estimated in these fittings and those used to simulate the virtual time courses supported the accuracy of the kinetic equations deduced. Finally, equations were successfully tested with real data taken from published experiments that describe redox signaling mediated by the oxidation of two protein tyrosine phosphatases, PTP1B and SHP-2, which are two of the few H2O2-sensing proteins with known kinetic parameters. Whereas for PTP1B estimated kinetic parameters fitted in general the present knowledge, for SHP-2 results obtained suggest that reactivity toward H2O2 as well as the rate of SHP-2 regeneration back to its reduced form are higher than previously thought. In conclusion, valuable quantitative kinetic data can be estimated from typical redox signaling experiments, thus improving our understanding about the complex processes that underlie the interplay between oxidative stress and redox signaling responses.Supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (PEst-OE/QUI/UI0612/2013 and VIH/SAU/0020/2011).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cascas de árvores e seus extractos taninosos: propriedades e aplicações

De forma a dar uma contribuição para o desenvolvimento de processos tendentes ao aproveitamento da casca de pinheiro bravo, recurso abundante em Portugal, é apresentada, de uma forma resumida, a importância que os extractos da casca ou do cerne ricos em taninos de algumas espécies florestais têm hoje em dia, assim como as próprias cascas. Inclui-se uma definição do termo taninos e aborda-se a sua química. Discutem-se as suas principais aplicações actuais, sejam as já implantadas a nível industrial, sejam os últimos resultados de investigação, no que diz respeito ao curtimento de peles, aos adesivos para madeira, a produtos farmacêuticos e biocidas, a resinas de troca iónica, a painéis de casca e a combustíveis

Quantitative Methods in Object-Oriented Software Engineering

This paper includes a brief description of the author’s doctoral research work in Quantitative Methods applied to the Object-Oriented Software Engineering field. Previous, current and future research work are outlined. An overview of related work is also included