ReSpecTX: Programming Interaction Made Easy

In this paper we present the ReSpecTX language, toolchain, and standard library as a first step of a path aimed at closing the gap between coordination languages \u2013 mostly a prerogative of the academic realm until now \u2013 and their industrial counterparts. Since the limited adoption of coordination languages within the industrial realm is also due to the lack of suitable toolchains and libraries of reusable mechanisms, ReSpecTX equips a core coordination language (ReSpecT) with tools and features commonly found in mainstream programming languages. In particular, ReSpecTX makes it possible to provide a reference library of reusable and composable interaction patterns

Novel Opportunities for Tuple-based Coordination: XPath, the Blockchain, and Stream Processing

The increasing maturity of some well-established technologies \u2013 such as XPath \u2013 along with the sharp rise of brand-new ones \u2013 i.e. the blockchain \u2013 presents new opportunities to researchers in the field of multi-agent coordination. In this position paper we briefly discuss a few technologies which, once suitably interpreted and integrated, have the potential to impact the very roots of tuple-based coordination as it stems from the archetypal LINDA model

From Agents to Blockchain: Stairway to Integration

The blockchain concept and technology are impacting many different research and application fields; hence, many are looking at the blockchain as a chance to solve long-standing problems or gain novel benefits. In the agent community several authors are proposing their own combination of agent-oriented technology and blockchain to address both old and new challenges. In this paper we aim at clarifying which are the opportunities, the dimensions to consider, and the alternative approaches available for integrating agents and blockchain, by proposing a roadmap and illustrating the issues yet to be addressed. Then, as both validation of our roadmap and grounds for future development, we discuss the case of Tenderfone, a custom blockchain integrating concepts borrowed from agent-oriented programming

Logic Programming in Space-Time: The Case of Situatedness in LPaaS

Situatedness is a fundamental requirement for today\u2019s complex software systems, as well as for the computational models and programming languages used to build them. Spatial and temporal situatedness, in particular, are essential features for AI, enabling actors of the system to take autonomous decisions contextual to the space-time they live in. To support spatio-temporal awareness in distributed pervasive systems, we adopt the standpoint of Logic Programming (LP) by focussing on the Logic Programming as a Service (LPaaS) approach, promoting the distribution of situated intelligence. Accordingly, we provide an interpretation about what it means to make LP span across space and time, then we extend the LPaaS model and architecture towards spatio-temporal situatedness, by identifying a set of suitably-expressive spatio-temporal primitives

The overdiagnosis nightmare: a time for caution

Overdiagnosis (and overtreatment) of cancers not bound to become symptomatic during lifetime is an unavoidable drawback of mammography screening. The magnitude of overdiagnosis has been estimated to be in the range of 5-10%, and thus acceptable in view of screening benefits as to reduced mortality. In a recent research article in BMC Women's Health, Jørgensen, Zahl and Gøtzsche suggest that overdiagnosis may be as high as 33%, based on their analysis of breast cancer incidence in screened and non-screened areas in Denmark. Here we consider how reliable such analyses can be, why it might have been useful to adjust comparisons between screened and non-screened areas for early detection lead time, and what further evidence might be needed to build on or confirm these results

Accuracy of needle biopsy of breast lesions visible on ultrasound: audit of fine needle versus core needle biopsy in 3233 consecutive samplings with ascertained outcomes.

Abstract Introduction Core needle biopsy (CNB) has progressively replaced fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of breast lesions. Less information is available on how these tests perform for biopsy of ultrasound (US) visible breast lesions. This study examines the outcomes of CNB and FNAC in a large series ascertained with surgical histology or clinical-imaging follow-up. Materials and methods Retrospective five-year audit of 3233 consecutive US-guided needle samplings of solid breast lesions, from self-referred symptomatic or asymptomatic subjects, performed by six radiologists in the same time-frame (2003–2006): 1950 FNAC and 1283 CNB. The probability of undergoing CNB as a first test instead of FNAC was evaluated using logistic regression. Accuracy and inadequacy were calculated for each of CNB and FNAC performed as first test. Accuracy measures included equivocal or borderline/atypical lesions as positive results. Results The probability of CNB as a first test instead of FNAC increased significantly over time, when there was a pre-test higher level of suspicion, in younger (relative to older) women, with increasing lesion size on imaging, and for palpable (relative to impalpable) lesions. Inadequacy rate was lower for CNB (B1 = 6.9%) than for FNAC (C1 = 17.7%), p vs . C1 = 4.5%; p vs . 74.4%; p vs . 93.8%; p = 0.001), however specificity was lower for CNB than FNAC (88.3% vs . 96.4%; p vs . 71.9; p complete diagnostic accuracy (95.4% vs . 93.2; p Conclusion FNAC and CNB were generally performed in different patients, thus our study reported indirect comparisons of these tests. Although FNAC performed well (except for relatively high inadequacy), CNB had significantly better performance based on measures of sensitivity, but this was associated with lower specificity for CNB relative to FNAC. Overall, CNB is the more reliable biopsy method for sonographically-visible lesions; where FNAC is used as the first-line test, inadequate or inconclusive FNAC can be largely resolved by using repeat sampling with CNB

A feasibility study of the use of the AutoPap screening system as a primary screening and location-guided rescreening device

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