An Economic Model-Based Predictive Control to Manage the Users' Thermal Comfort in a Building

The goal of maintaining users' thermal comfort conditions in indoor environments may require complex regulation procedures and a proper energy management. This problem is being widely analyzed, since it has a direct effect on users' productivity. This paper presents an economic model-based predictive control (MPC) whose main strength is the use of the day-ahead price (DAP) in order to predict the energy consumption associated with the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). In this way, the control system is able to maintain a high thermal comfort level by optimizing the use of the HVAC system and to reduce, at the same time, the energy consumption associated with it, as much as possible. Later, the performance of the proposed control system is tested through simulations with a non-linear model of a bioclimatic building room. Several simulation scenarios are considered as a test-bed. From the obtained results, it is possible to conclude that the control system has a good behavior in several situations, i.e., it can reach the users' thermal comfort for the analyzed situations, whereas the HVAC use is adjusted through the DAP; therefore, the energy savings associated with the HVAC is increased.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [DPI2014-56364-C2-1-R]; EU-ERDF funds; Competitiveness and ERDF funds; Fundacion Iberdrola Espana; Portuguese Foundation for Science & Technology, through IDMEC, under LAETA [ID/EMS/50022/2013

Spectrum-Based Fault Localization in Model Transformations

Model transformations play a cornerstone role in Model-Driven Engineering (MDE), as they provide the essential mechanisms for manipulating and transforming models. The correctness of software built using MDE techniques greatly relies on the correctness of model transformations. However, it is challenging and error prone to debug them, and the situation gets more critical as the size and complexity of model transformations grow, where manual debugging is no longer possible. Spectrum-Based Fault Localization (SBFL) uses the results of test cases and their corresponding code coverage information to estimate the likelihood of each program component (e.g., statements) of being faulty. In this article we present an approach to apply SBFL for locating the faulty rules in model transformations. We evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of the approach by comparing the effectiveness of 18 different stateof- the-art SBFL techniques at locating faults in model transformations. Evaluation results revealed that the best techniques, namely Kulcynski2, Mountford, Ochiai, and Zoltar, lead the debugger to inspect a maximum of three rules to locate the bug in around 74% of the cases. Furthermore, we compare our approach with a static approach for fault localization in model transformations, observing a clear superiority of the proposed SBFL-based method.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología TIN2015-70560-RJunta de Andalucía P12-TIC-186

Stress Increases Vulnerability to Inflammation in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex

Inflammation could be involved in some neurodegenerative disorders that accompany signs of inflammation. However, because sensitivity to inflammation is not equal in all brain structures, a direct relationship is not clear. Our aim was to test whether some physiological circumstances, such as stress, could enhance susceptibility to inflammation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which shows a relative resistance to inflammation. PFC is important in many brain functions and is a target for some neurodegenerative diseases. We induced an inflammatory process by a single intracortical injection of 2 μg of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a potent proinflammogen, in nonstressed and stressed rats. We evaluated the effect of our treatment on inflammatory markers, neuronal populations, BDNF expression, and behavior of several mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases and the transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein. Stress strengthens the changes induced by LPS injection: microglial activation and proliferation with an increase in the levels of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α; loss of cells such as astroglia, seen as loss of glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity, and neurons, studied by neuronal-specific nuclear protein immunohistochemistry and GAD67 and NMDA receptor 1A mRNAs expression by in situ hybridization. A significant increase in the BDNF mRNA expression and modifications in the levels of MAP kinase phosphorylation were also found. In addition, we observed a protective effect from RU486 [mifepristone (11β-[p-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-17β-hydroxy-17-(1-propynyl)estra-4,9-dien-3-one)], a potent inhibitor of the glucocorticoid receptor activation. All of these data show a synergistic effect between inflammation and stress, which could explain the relationship described between stress and some neurodegenerative pathologies.España,Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia Grants SAF2002-01952 and SAF2004-0660

On the Specification of Non-functional Properties of Systems by Observation

Domain specific languages play a cornerstone role in Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) for representing models and metamodels. So far, most of the MDE community efforts have focused on the specification of the functional properties of systems. However, the correct and complete specification of some of their non-functional properties is critical in many important distributed application domains, such as embedded systems, multimedia applications or e-commerce services. In this paper we present an approach to specify QoS requirements, based on the observation of the system actions and of the state of its objects. We show how this approach can be used to extend languages which specify behavior in terms of rules, and how QoS characteristics can be easily expressed and reused across models. We show as well how this approach enables the specification of other important properties of systems, such as automatic reconfiguration of the system when some of the QoS properties change.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2008-031087Junta de Andalucía P07-TIC-0318

Diseño y Simulación de Sistemas de Colas con e-Motions

Este trabajo propone el uso de un lenguaje de dominio espec í co de alto nivel y ejecutable para analizar el rendimiento de un sistema de colas implementado mediante diferentes estrategias. En concreto se utiliza un enfoque basado en el Desarrollo del Software Dirigido por Modelos (DSDM) para modelar el comportamiento del sistema de facturación de una aerolínea y obtener datos relativos a su rendimiento en cuanto a costes y tiempos de espera, dependiendo de la estrategia utilizada. Para lograr ese propósito se utiliza e-Motions, una herramienta que permite al usuario modelar y analizar sistemas en tiempo real de forma grá ca

Emotional competences and subjective well-being: The mediating role of relationship satisfaction in young Spanish adults

"This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mónaco, E., Gil¿Gómez, J. A., & Montoya¿Castilla, I. (2021). Emotional competences and subjective well¿being: The mediating role of relationship satisfaction in young Spanish adults. International Journal of Psychology, 56(6), 908-916, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12768. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."[EN] Establishing and maintaining relationships is one of the challenges facing young adults at the beginning of this stage in their lives. Emotional competences are related to relationship satisfaction and subjective well-being. This paper aims to study the relationship between emotional competences and subjective well-being in young adults, considering the mediating role of satisfaction with the partner. Two hundred and thirty-three young Spanish people (60.1% women) between 18 and 35 years old (Mean = 22.93; SD = 3.72) participated in the study. All of them had a romantic partner. The Questionnaire of Emotional Skills and Competences (ESCQ-21), the Scale of Evaluation of the Relationships (RAS), the Scale of Satisfaction with Life (SWLS) and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (SPANE) were used to measure the variables. For analysis, the SPSS version 26 and Mplus version 7.0 were used. The results indicate a significant relationship between emotional competences, relationship satisfaction and subjective well-being. The mediation model showed that satisfaction with the relationship plays a mediating role between the ability to regulate emotions and subjective well-being. The importance of emotional education both inside and outside relationships is considered, in order to promote healthy and non-violent relationships among young people.This research was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (PSI2017-84005-R), the State Agency Research, the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) from the European Union, and the University of Valencia (Talent Attraction Predoctoral Grant UV-INV_PREDOC17F1-540334).Mónaco, E.; Gil-Gómez, J.; Montoya-Castilla, I. (2021). Emotional competences and subjective well-being: The mediating role of relationship satisfaction in young Spanish adults. International Journal of Psychology (Online). 56(6):908-916. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.1276890891656

Metamorphic Testing of RESTful Web APIs

Web Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow systems to interact with each other over the network. Modern Web APIs often adhere to the REST architectural style, being referred to as RESTful Web APIs. RESTful Web APIs are decomposed into multiple resources (e.g., a video in the YouTube API) that clients can manipulate through HTTP interactions. Testing Web APIs is critical but challenging due to the difficulty to assess the correctness of API responses, i.e., the oracle problem. Metamorphic testing alleviates the oracle problem by exploiting relations (so-called metamorphic relations) among multiple executions of the program under test. In this paper, we present a metamorphic testing approach for the detection of faults in RESTful Web APIs. We first propose six abstract relations that capture the shape of many of the metamorphic relations found in RESTful Web APIs, we call these Metamorphic Relation Output Patterns (MROPs). Each MROP can then be instantiated into one or more concrete metamorphic relations. The approach was evaluated using both automatically seeded and real faults in six subject Web APIs. Among other results, we identified 60 metamorphic relations (instances of the proposed MROPs) in the Web APIs of Spotify and YouTube. Each metamorphic relation was implemented using both random and manual test data, running over 4.7K automated tests. As a result, 11 issues were detected (3 in Spotify and 8 in YouTube), 10 of them confirmed by the API developers or reproduced by other users, supporting the effectiveness of the approach.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología TIN2015-70560-RJunta de Andalucía P12-TIC-186

An Approach for Debugging Model Transformations Applying Spectrum-Based Fault Localization

Model transformations play a cornerstone role in Model-Driven Engineering as they provide the essential mechanisms for manipulating and transforming models. The use of assertions for checking their correctness has been proposed in several works. However, it is still challenging and error prone to locate the faulty rules, and the situation gets more critical as the size and complexity of model transformations grow, where manual debugging is no longer possible. Spectrum-Based Fault Localization (SBFL) is a technique for software debugging that uses the results of test cases and their corresponding code coverage information to estimate the likelihood of each program component (e.g., statements) of being faulty. This paper describes a proposal for applying SBFL for locating the faulty rules in ATL model transformations. The approach aims at automatically detecting the transformation rule that makes an assertion fail.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología TIN2015-70560-RJunta de Andalucía P12-TIC-186

Electrophysiological correlates of the emotional response on brain activity in adolescents

[EN] Many studies have attempted to analyze the main neurophysiological characteristics of emotional response, but few have been carried out at early ages, including adolescence or early adulthood. The main objective of the present study is to assess the electrophysiological correlates of emotional response in adolescents and young adults through electroencephalography (EEG) measures. Sample, composed of 25 subjects (18.44 ± 0.71 years old), were exposed to different sequences of images belonging to the IAPS, which were selected following the dimensional model, based on their valence and arousal, while their neural activity was evaluated through EEG. Results indicated differences in cortical neural activity in response to the valence of the images and the level of arousal. Specifically, we observed that exposure to positive images (high valence) with high arousal produced an increase in alpha, beta, and delta wave activity but not in theta activity. In the case of positive images with low arousal, however, the results indicated an increase in beta waves only and a decrease in alpha, delta, and theta activity. For negative images (low valence) with high arousal, an increase in alpha, beta, and delta waves but not in theta was observed, while negative images with low arousal induced an increase in beta, delta, and theta wave response. This study demonstrates that activated cortical areas indicated significant differences based on the different emotional responses in adolescents and young adults.The authors would like to thank the sample participants for their contribution to the study. This publication is part of the project PSI2017- 84005-R funded by MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by FEDER Una manera de hacer EuropaMesa Gresa, P.; Gil-Gómez, J.; Lozano Quilis, JA.; Schoeps, K.; Montoya-Castilla, I. (2023). Electrophysiological correlates of the emotional response on brain activity in adolescents. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control. 89:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bspc.2023.1057541118

Automated Throughput Optimization of Cloud Services via Model-driven Adaptation

Cloud computing promises easy access, low entry cost and elasticity. However, elastic service provisioning is usually delivered via service replication, which must be supervised manually, hand-picking the services to replicate and ensuring their proper load balance. Automated service provisioning, i.e., the function of automatically scaling the services to cope up with their runtime demand, is a research challenge in cloud computing. In this work, we include such scalability analysis early in its development cycle, right at the design stage. We propose a model-driven approach where various QoS parameters can be simulated and analyzed using the e-Motions tool. Additionally, the model is automatically transformed to fit the given throughput requirements by replicating the services which cause the bottleneck. In order to evaluate the proposal, we present some initial experimental results run over the e-Motions tool.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2008-05932Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2008-031087Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2011-23795Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2012-35669Junta de Andalucía P11-TIC-765