Continuous Experimentation for Automotive Software on the Example of a Heavy Commercial Vehicle in Daily Operation

As the automotive industry focuses its attention more and more towards the software functionality of vehicles, techniques to deliver new software value at a fast pace are needed. Continuous Experimentation, a practice coming from the web-based systems world, is one of such techniques. It enables researchers and developers to use real-world data to verify their hypothesis and steer the software evolution based on performances and user preferences, reducing the reliance on simulations and guesswork. Several challenges prevent the verbatim adoption of this practice on automotive cyber-physical systems, e.g., safety concerns and limitations from computational resources; nonetheless, the automotive field is starting to take interest in this technique. This work aims at demonstrating and evaluating a prototypical Continuous Experimentation infrastructure, implemented on a distributed computational system housed in a commercial truck tractor that is used in daily operations by a logistic company on public roads. The system comprises computing units and sensors, and software deployment and data retrieval are only possible remotely via a mobile data connection due to the commercial interests of the logistics company. This study shows that the proposed experimentation process resulted in the development team being able to base software development choices on the real-world data collected during the experimental procedure. Additionally, a set of previously identified design criteria to enable Continuous Experimentation on automotive systems was discussed and their validity confirmed in the light of the presented work.Comment: Paper accepted to the 14th European Conference on Software Architecture (ECSA 2020). 16 pages, 5 figure

ASPECTOS POLÍTICOS E ECONÔMICOS ENVOLVIDOS NA RETOMADA DO DEBATE SOBRE DESIGUALDADE E DISTRIBUIÇÃO DE RENDA

This paper discusses how the issue of income distribution has resumed its importance in recent decades, showing the evolution of income inequality from the post-Second World War to the present, based on data from studies elaborated by researchers who work in internationally renowned academic centers. Income inequality starts to increase with the rise of neoliberalism in the 1980s, becoming greater in the 2000s, concentrated in the richest 1% of capitalist countries. This reality has demanded new interpretations by scholars, bringing to the debate contributions from Sociology, Political Science and Political Economy. Authors have shown how changes in the international order and its consequences on the pattern of capitalist accumulation in favor of rentier capitalism – a predominantly financial accumulation of capital – have altered the functioning of representative Democracies and affected economic inequality in capitalist countries, contrasting what happened in the “Golden Age” of capitalism (1945-1980) with what has been happening since the 1980s and especially in the 2000s.Cet article examine comment le thème de la répartition des revenus a repris de l’importance au cours des dernières décennies, en montrant l’évolution de l’inégalité des revenus de l’après-Seconde Guerre mondiale à aujourd’hui, sur la base des données provenant d’études élaborées par des chercheurs qui travaillent dans des centres universitaires de renommée internationale. L’inégalité des revenus commence à augmenter avec la montée du néoliberalisme dans les années 80, pour devenir plus grave dans les années 2000, concentrée dans les 1% les plus riches des pays. Cette réalité a exigé de nouvelles interprétations de la part des chercheurs, qui ont apporté au débat des contributions de la Sociologie, des Sciences Politiques et de l’Économie Politique. Les auteurs ont montré comment les changements dans l’ordre international et leurs conséquences sur le modèle d’accumulation capitaliste en faveur du capitalisme rentier – une accumulation de capital à prédominance financière –ont modifié le fonctionnement des démocraties représentatives et affecté l’inégalité économique dans les pays capitalistes, en contrastant ce qui s’est passé pendant l’“age d’or” du capitalisme (1945-1980) avec ce qui s’est passé depuis les années 1980 et surtout dans les années 2000.O objetivo é mostrar que a temática da distribuição de renda tem retomado importância no debate acadêmico e político. Ilustra-se a evolução da desigualdade de renda desde o pós-Segunda Guerra à atualidade, organizando dados elaborados por autores que trabalham em centros de pesquisa internacionais. A desigualdade de renda passa a aumentar a partir da ascensão do neoliberalismo, nos anos 1980, tornando-se ainda maior nos anos 2000, concentrando-se no 1% mais rico dos países. Essa realidade traz para o debate a contribuição de profissionais da Sociologia, da Ciência Política e da Economia Política. Esses autores têm demonstrado como as mudanças na ordem internacional e seus efeitos sobre o padrão de acumulação capitalista em favor do rentismo alterou a forma pela qual o funcionamento das Democracias representativas tem afetado a desigualdade econômica nos países capitalistas, contrastando o que ocorria nos “Anos Dourados” do capitalismo (1945-1980) com o que acontece desde os anos 1980

Optimization experiments in the continuous space: The limited growth optimistic optimization algorithm

Online controlled experiments are extensively used by web-facing companies to validate and optimize their systems, providing a competitive advantage in their business. As the number of experiments scale, companies aim to invest their experimentation resources in larger feature changes and leave the automated techniques to optimize smaller features. Optimization experiments in the continuous space are encompassed in the many-armed bandits class of problems. Although previous research provides algorithms for solving this class of problems, these algorithms were not implemented in real-world online experimentation problems and do not consider the application constraints, such as time to compute a solution, selection of a best arm and the estimation of the mean-reward function. This work discusses the online experiments in context of the many-armed bandits class of problems and provides three main contributions: (1) an algorithm modification to include online experiments constraints, (2) implementation of this algorithm in an industrial setting in collaboration with Sony Mobile, and (3) statistical evidence that supports the modification of the algorithm for online experiments scenarios. These contributions support the relevance of the LG-HOO algorithm in the context of optimization experiments and show how the algorithm can be used to support continuous optimization of online systems in stochastic scenarios

Management of the axilla in early breast cancer patients in the genomic era

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Análise do perfil clínico e eletrocardiográfico dos pacientes chagásicos assistidos pela Rede de Teleassistência de Minas Gerais

A Doença de Chagas (DC) é uma enfermidade endêmica causada pelo agente etiológico Trypanossoma cruzi. O curso clínico dessa doença se divide em 3 fases: aguda, intermediária e crônica. Nessa última fase, as principais manifestações se relacionam com a cardiomiopatia chagásica, levando a diversas alterações eletrocardiográficas que são diagnosticadas através da realização do eletrocardiograma (ECG). O objetivo deste presente estudo é analisar o perfil clínico e eletrocardiográfico dos pacientes portadores de Doença de Chagas (DC) atendidos na Rede de Teleassistência de Minas Gerais (RTMG). Trata-se de estudo observacional retrospectivo de pacientes maiores de 18 anos que se autorrelataram portadores de DC e que realizaram ECG pela RTMG no período de 2010 a 2017. Os ECGs com problemas técnicos foram excluídos. Foram realizadas uma análise descritiva e análise univariada através do teste qui quadrado de Pearson dos dados coletados. Diante dos resultados encontrados foi traçado um perfil de alterações cardíacas do portador crônico de DC que se manifesta através de duas alterações eletrocardiográficas principalmente, presença de onda Q patológica e sinais de bloqueio de ramo direito (BRD) e bloqueio de ramo esquerdo (BRE). O conhecimento desse estudo se faz necessário uma vez que essas alterações são causas importantes de morte súbita dos pacientes, advinda de arritmias. Além disso, os aspectos apontados neste estudo, contribuem para otimizar o tratamento, acompanhamento e diagnóstico precoce dos portadores de Doença de Chagas

Water-splitting electrocatalysis in acid conditions using ruthenate-iridate pyrochlores

The pyrochlore solid solution (Na0.33Ce0.67)(2)-(Ir1-xRux)(2)O-7 (0<x<1), containing B-site Ru-IV and Ir-IV is prepared by hydrothermal synthesis and used as a catalyst layer for electrochemical oxygen evolution from water at pH<7. The materials have atomically mixed Ru and Ir and their nanocrystalline form allows effective fabrication of electrode coatings with improved charge densities over a typical (Ru, Ir)O-2 catalyst. An in situ study of the catalyst layers using XANES spectroscopy at the Ir L-III and Ru K edges shows that both Ru and Ir participate in redox chemistry at oxygen evolution conditions and that Ru is more active than Ir, being oxidized by almost one oxidation state at maximum applied potential, with no evidence for ruthenate or iridate in + 6 or higher oxidation states

Hepatozoon spp. in stray cats from the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In the last few years, the number of studies on feline hepatozoonosis has increased, but our knowledge on the actual species of Hepatozoon and/or different genotypes affecting felines is still incipient. At least three species, namely Hepatozoon felis, H. canis, and H. silvestris, have been isolated from domestic cats in various countries. Additionally, there are indications that other species and genotypes may affect felines in given geographic areas. This study was carried out to investigate the occurrence of Hepatozoon spp. in cats from Niterói, a municipality within the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Individual blood samples were collected from 28 cats enrolled in a spaying/castration program. DNA was extracted from all samples and subjected to sequencing specific for Hepatozoon spp. DNA of H. felis was found in 21/28 cats (75%), and four genetic polymorphisms never described thus far were detected. This is the first report of H. felis in cats living in the State of Rio de Janeiro, and the present data confirm that H. felis is a species complex encompassing different genotypes circulating within cat populations. Further studies are warranted to investigate whether different genotypes have different biology or pathogenicity for felids

MicroRNA-21 links epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and inflammatory signals to confer resistance to neoadjuvant trastuzumab and chemotherapy in HER2-positive breast cancer patients

Patients with primary HER2-positive breast cancer benefit from HER2-targeted therapies. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of these patients die of disease progression due to mechanisms of drug resistance. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as critical core regulators of drug resistance that act by modulating the epithelial- to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer-related immune responses. In this study, we investigated the association between the expression of a specific subset of 14 miRNAs involved in EMT processes and immune functions and the response to neoadjuvant trastuzumab and chemotherapy in 52 patients with HER2-overexpressing breast tumors. The expression of only a single miRNA, miR-21, was significantly associated with residual disease (p = 0.030) and increased after trastuzumab-chemotherapy (p = 0.012). A target prediction analysis coupled with in vitro and in vivo validations revealed that miR-21 levels inversely correlated with the expression of PTEN (rs = -0.502; p = 0.005) and PDCD4 (rs = -0.426; p = 0.019), which differentially influenced the drug sensitivity of HER2-positive breast cancer cells. However, PTEN expression was only marginally associated with residual disease. We further demonstrated that miR-21 was able to affect the response to both trastuzumab and chemotherapy, triggering an IL-6/STAT3/NF-\u3baB-mediated signaling loop and activating the PI3K pathway. Our findings support the ability of miR-21 signaling to sustain EMT and shape the tumor immune microenvironment in HER2-positive breast cancer. Collectively, these data provide a rationale for using miR-21 expression as a biomarker to select trastuzumab-chemotherapy-resistant HER2-positive breast cancer patients who may benefit from treatments containing PI3K inhibitors or immunomodulatory drugs

Abordagem diagnóstica e terapêutica sobre bexiga hiperativa em mulheres / Diagnostic and therapeutic approach to overactive bladder in women

Incontinência urinária de urgência (IUU) e bexiga hiperativa (BH) são disfunções miccionais do trato urinário inferior (TUI). IUU é definida como vazamento urinário involuntário e inevitável, e BH é definida como uma constante e súbita urgência de urinar, com ou sem IUU. Em ambas, observa-se polaciúria e noctúria quando infecções do trato urinário (ITU) ou demais patologias estiverem ausentes. É estimado que 82,9% dos casos de BH cursem com incontinência urinária (IU). A importância do estudo é justificada pela alta prevalência de BH, pela redução na qualidade de vida de pacientes portadores e pela importância devido ao custo para a saúde pública. A prevalência é semelhante em mulheres e homens, e em ambos sexos o principal fator de risco é envelhecimento, embora haja peculiaridades. A BH pode ter causa neurogênica (lesões supra pontinas e medulares) ou não-neurogênica (idiopática, obstrutiva). Dentre as principais etiologias para BH estão alterações fisiológicas no sistema nervoso, no urotélio e no músculo detrusor. O diagnóstico é essencialmente clínico, as possibilidades terapêuticas são amplas e devem se adequar a realidade do paciente. Tratamentos comportamentais são a primeira opção. Antimuscarínicos são a primeira escolha farmacológica e tratamentos invasivos devem ser considerados apenas em pacientes não responsivos a nenhum tratamento anterior

MicroRNA-21 links epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and inflammatory signals to confer resistance to neoadjuvant trastuzumab and chemotherapy in HER2-positive breast cancer patients

Patients with primary HER2-positive breast cancer benefit from HER2-targeted therapies. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of these patients die of disease progression due to mechanisms of drug resistance. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as critical core regulators of drug resistance that act by modulating the epithelial- to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer-related immune responses. In this study, we investigated the association between the expression of a specific subset of 14 miRNAs involved in EMT processes and immune functions and the response to neoadjuvant trastuzumab and chemotherapy in 52 patients with HER2-overexpressing breast tumors. The expression of only a single miRNA, miR-21, was significantly associated with residual disease (p = 0.030) and increased after trastuzumab-chemotherapy (p = 0.012). A target prediction analysis coupled with in vitro and in vivo validations revealed that miR-21 levels inversely correlated with the expression of PTEN (rs = −0.502; p = 0.005) and PDCD4 (rs = −0.426; p = 0.019), which differentially influenced the drug sensitivity of HER2-positive breast cancer cells. However, PTEN expression was only marginally associated with residual disease. We further demonstrated that miR-21 was able to affect the response to both trastuzumab and chemotherapy, triggering an IL-6/STAT3/NF-κB-mediated signaling loop and activating the PI3K pathway. Our findings support the ability of miR-21 signaling to sustain EMT and shape the tumor immune microenvironment in HER2-positive breast cancer. Collectively, these data provide a rationale for using miR-21 expression as a biomarker to select trastuzumab-chemotherapy-resistant HER2-positive breast cancer patients who may benefit from treatments containing PI3K inhibitors or immunomodulatory drugs