phyloDB: A framework for large-scale phylogenetic analysis

phyloDB is a modular and extensible framework for large-scale phylogenetic analyses, which are essential for understanding epidemics evolution. It relies on the Neo4j graph database for data storage and processing, providing a schema and an API for representing and querying phylogenetic data. Custom algorithms are also supported, allowing to perform heavy computations directly over the data, and to store results in the database. Multiple computation results are stored as multilayer networks, promoting and facilitating comparative analyses, as well as avoiding unnecessary ab initio computations. The experimental evaluation results showcase that phyloDB is efficient and scalable with respect to both API operations and algorithms execution.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2012.1336

Stateful adaptive streams with approximate computing and elastic scaling

The model of approximate computing can be used to increase performance or optimize resource usage in stream and graph processing. It can be used to satisfy performance requirements (e.g., throughput, lag) in stream processing by reducing the effort that applications need to process datasets. There are currently multiple stream processing platforms, and most of them do not natively support approximate results. A recent one, Stateful Functions, is an API that uses Flink to enable developers to easily build stream and graph processing applications. It also retains Flink's features like stateful computations, fault-tolerance, scalability, control events and its graph processing library Gelly. Herein we present Approxate, an extension over this platform to support approximate results. It can also support more efficient stream and graph processing by allocating available resources adaptively, driven by user-defined requirements on throughput, lag, and latency. This extension enables flexibility in computational trade-offs such as trading accuracy for performance. The user can choose which metrics should be guaranteed at the cost of others, and/or the accuracy. Approxate incorporates approximate computing (using load shedding) with adaptive accuracy and resource manegement in state-of-the-art stream processing platforms, which are not targeted in other relevant related work. It does not require significant modifications to application code, and minimizes imbalance in data source representation when dropping events.This work was supported by national funds through FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under project UIDB/50021/2020. DL 60/2018, de 3-08 – Aquisição necessária para a atividade de I&D do INESC-ID, no âmbito do projeto SmartRetail (02/C-05i01/2022). This work was partially supported by the Spanish Government under research contracts PID2019-106774RB-C21 and PCI2019-111850-2 (DiPET CHIST-ERA).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Estudo de adaptação e validação de uma escala de perceção de liderança ética para líderes portugueses

Os líderes influenciam o comportamento individual e organizacional, incluindo a dimensão ética, sendo igualmente influenciados pela suas expetativas, interpretações e interações com os outros (Glynn & Jamerson, 2006; Kellerman, 2004).Frequentemente intervêm em diferentes contextos éticos, o que torna difícil para as pessoas "boas" tomarem boas decisões em situações más" (Glynn & Jamerson, 2006, p. 154).A liderança ética pode ser considerada como a "demonstração de conduta normativamente adequada através de ações pessoais e das relações interpessoais, assim como a promoção de tal conduta para os liderados através de uma comunicação bidireccional, reforço e tomada de decisão" (Brown, Trevino & Harrison, 2005, 9.120).O estudo aqui apresentado teve como objetivo desenvolver uma escala de liderança ética (Hanges & Dickson, 2004) para líderes portugueses com base na adaptação e validação da escala realizada por De Hoog e Den Hartog (2008).Os resultados obtidos evidenciam qualidades psicométicas adequadas, com um valor elevado de consistência interna. As análises fatoriais exploratórias revelam uma estrutura que aponta para a existência de dois fatores para a escala definidos como Liderança Ètica e Liderança Despótica que integram as respetivas dimensões.Importa, futuramente realizar uma análise da estabilidade das escalas com outra amostra por forma a verificar-se a consistência do s valores obtidos

Data Management in Metagenomics: A Risk Management Approach

In eScience, where vast data collections are processed in scientific workflows, new risks and challenges are emerging. Those challenges are changing the eScience paradigm, mainly regarding digital preservation and scientific workflows. To address specific concerns with data management in these scenarios, the concept of the Data Management Plan was established, serving as a tool for enabling digital preservation in eScience research projects. We claim risk management can be jointly used with a Data Management Plan, so new risks and challenges can be easily tackled. Therefore, we propose an analysis process for eScience projects using a Data Management Plan and ISO 31000 in order to create a Risk Management Plan that can complement the Data Management Plan. The motivation, requirements and validation of this proposal are explored in the MetaGen-FRAME project, focused in Metagenomics