A theory of contracts for web services

<p>Contracts are behavioural descriptions of Web services. We devise a theory of contracts that formalises the compatibility of a client to a service, and the safe replacement of a service with another service. The use of contracts statically ensures the successful completion of every possible interaction between compatible clients and services.</p> <p>The technical device that underlies the theory is the definition of filters, which are explicit coercions that prevent some possible behaviours of services and, in doing so, they make services compatible with different usage scenarios. We show that filters can be seen as proofs of a sound and complete subcontracting deduction system which simultaneously refines and extends Hennessy's classical axiomatisation of the must testing preorder. The relation is decidable and the decision algorithm is obtained via a cut-elimination process that proves the coherence of subcontracting as a logical system.</p> <p>Despite the richness of the technical development, the resulting approach is based on simple ideas and basic intuitions. Remarkably, its application is mostly independent of the language used to program the services or the clients. We also outline the possible practical impact of such a work and the perspectives of future research it opens.</p&gt

Resolving Non-Determinism in Choreographies

Resolving non-deterministic choices of choreographies is a crucial task. We introduce a novel notion of realisability for choreographies –called whole-spectrum implementation– that rules out deterministic implementations of roles that, no matter which context they are placed in, will never follow one of the branches of a non-deterministic choice. We show that, under some conditions, it is decidable whether an implementation is whole-spectrum. As a case study, we analyse the POP protocol under the lens of whole-spectrum implementation

A room temperature 19-channel magnetic field mapping device for cardiac signals

We present a multichannel cardiac magnetic field imaging system built in Fribourg from optical double-resonance Cs vapor magnetometers. It consists of 25 individual sensors designed to record magnetic field maps of the beating human heart by simultaneous measurements on a grid of 19 points over the chest. The system is operated as an array of second order gradiometers using sophisticated digitally controlled feedback loops.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter

AR AND VR FOR ENHANCING MUSEUMS’ HERITAGE THROUGH 3D RECONSTRUCTION OF FRAGMENTED STATUE AND ARCHITECTURAL CONTEXT

This paper presents the results of multidisciplinary research in which reconstructive digital modelling operates on different areas of heritage and at different scales to realize an analysis, interpretation, and communication experience in the field of museum valorization. It is, in fact, a work that includes both the philological reconstruction of the lost parts of a Buddha statue of Gandhāra, dating back to the second century b.C. and kept at the Museum of Oriental Art (MAO) in Turin, and its contextualization within a coeval architectural complex, recognized as philologically compatible, located in Balo-Kale, in the region of Gandhāra. The reconstructive models are finally used with communicative purposes for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications inside the museum

Scanning Electron Microscopic Aids For Identification Of Larval And Post-Larval Bivalves

The identification of bivalve larvae and early postlarvae in plankton and benthic samples has long been a challenge, hampering both basic and applied research efforts in marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments. The usefulness of published optical micrographs of the early life-history stages of bivalves is limited because of the great morphological similarity of the imaged articulated shells, particularly at the early (straight-hinge) developmental stages. While a number of techniques have been refined in recent years and show promise for use in routine identifications of larval and post-larval bivalves (e.g., single-step nested multiplex polymerase chain reaction; in situ hybridization protocols through color coding with taxon-specific, dye-labeled DNA probes; coupled fluorescence in situ hybridization and cell sorting; and image analysis techniques using species-specific shell birefringence patterns under polarized light), no adequate comprehensive reference source exists that accurately depicts the morphology and morphometry of the shells of larval and post-larval stages of target bivalve species in a consistent format to assist in identification of such stages. To this end, scanning electron micrograph (SEM) sequences are presented of the disarticulated shell valves of laboratory-reared larval and post-larval stages of 56 species of bivalve molluscs from a wide spectrum of marine, estuarine, and freshwater habitats. Emphasis is placed on the usefulness of the morphology and morphometrics of consistently-oriented, disarticulated shell valves and associated hinge structures in discriminating the early life-history stages of these various bivalve species. Although the scanning electron micrograph sequences presented accurately depict the gross morphologies/morphometrics and hinge structures of the disarticulated shell valves of the larvae and/or postlarvae of the 56 species of bivalves, it is important to emphasize that a scanning electron microscope is not necessary to observe even fine hinge structures associated with the early ontogenetic stages of these species. Such structures are readily visible using a wide range of optical compound microscopes equipped with high-intensity reflected light sources, although the disarticulated shell valves must be viewed in several planes of focus to discern the often subtle details seen clearly in the scanning electron micrographs. These morphological characters provide researchers with invaluable aids for the routine identification of the early life-history stages of these species isolated from plankton and benthic samples

Allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation with reduced intensity conditioning in primary refractory prolymphocytic leukemia: graft-versus-leukemia effect without graft-versus-host disease

n/

Lack of Efficacy of Combined Antiangiogenic Therapies in Xenografted Human Melanoma

Antiangiogenic therapy is theoretically a promising anticancer approach but does not always produce significant tumor control. Combinations of antiangiogenic therapies are therefore being investigated as strategies to enhance clinical benefit. Common targets for angiogenic blockade include endothelial specific receptors, such as Tie2/Tek, which signal blood vessel stabilization via recruitment and maturation of pericytes. Here, we report on the effects of targeted Tie2 antiangiogenic therapy (TekdeltaFc) in combination with nontargeted metronomic cyclophosphamide (LDM CTX) (reported to also act in antiangiogenic fashion) in xenografted human melanoma. Individually, these therapies showed transient antitumor activity, but, in combination, there was no significant reduction in tumor growth. In addition, while TekdeltaFc caused the expected increased pericyte coverage in treated blood vessels, LDM CTX alone or in combination with TekdeltaFc resulted in increased levels of VEGF production. Collectively, our data highlight the complexity of molecular interactions that may take place when antiangiogenic regimens are combined