A case study on the transformation of context-aware domain data onto XML schemas

In order to accelerate the development of context-aware applications, it would be convenient to have a smooth path between the context models and the automated services that support these models. This paper discusses how MDA technology (metamodelling and the QVT standard) can support the transformation of high-level models of context-aware services onto the implementation of these services using web services. The total transformation process from context-aware services onto web services involves the following aspects: 1. service signatures, which should be translated onto WSDL definitions; 2. context-aware domain data used as input and output data in service operations, which should be translated onto XML schemas; and 3. service behaviours, which should be used to generate the service implementation. This paper concentrates on the modelling and transformation of the context-aware domain data. The results of this paper are generally applicable to the transformation of elements of any domain-specific language expressed in terms of a metamodel onto XML Schema data

A systematic approach for component-based software development

Component-based software development enables the construction of software artefacts by assembling prefabricated, configurable and independently evolving building blocks, called software components. This paper presents an approach for the development of component-based software artefacts. This approach consists of splitting the software development process according to four abstraction levels, viz., enterprise, system, component and object, and three different views, viz., structural, behavioural and interactional. The use of different abstraction levels and views allows a better control of the development process

A conceptual model for the development of CSCW systems

Models and theories concerning cooperation have long been recognised as an important aid in the development of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) systems. However, there is no consensus regarding the set of concepts and abstractions that should underlie such models and theories. Furthermore, common patterns are hard to discern in different models and theories. This paper analyses a number of existing models and theories, and proposes a generic conceptual framework based on the strengths and commonalities of these models. We analyse five different developments, viz., Coordination Theory, Activity Theory, Task Manager model, Action/Interaction Theory and Object-Oriented Activity Support model, to propose a generic model based on four key concepts common to these developments, viz. activity, actor, information and service

A Combined Component-Based Approach for the Design of Distributed Software Systems

Component-based software development enables the construction of software artefacts by assembling binary units of production, distribution and deployment, the so-called components. Several approaches to component-based development have been proposed recently. Most of these approaches are based on the Unified Modeling Language (UML). UML has been increasingly used in component-based development, despite some shortcomings of this language. This paper presents a methodology for the design of component-based applications that combines a model-based approach with a UML-based approach. This combined approach tackles some of the limitations of UML, allowing a better control of the design proces

A LOW COST PACKAGE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BODY KINEMATICS

The application of the analytical methods of Classical Mechanics has made possible the modelling and quantification of relatively simple motional situations. Only recently, however, with the development of computer integrated systems of kinematic data acquisition and processing, has this branch of Biomechanics acquired a lively momentum. The data for the study of the kinematics of human movement has essentially been obtained with techniques of goniometry, accelerometry and cine- and videophotogrammetry and then processed to provide information on the time histories of the co-ordinates of representative points on the surface of the body. This processing can be done automatically by data acquisition systems such as the Peak Performance, the Elite Motion Analyser, the MacReflex System Motion Analysis System and the Ariel Performance Analysis System (APAS), systems which are, however, far too expensive for the great majority of the researchers and field workers. We have developed a simple and portable PC computer software package which provides facilities for image processing such as the use of several filtering and zooming schemes, image conversion, as well as adjustment of brilliance and contrast. The images are recorded with a video camera and stored frame by frame on disc with a frame grabber and are interactively edited for processing. The image resolution may vary from 800 x 600 pixels with 65 536 colours to 1024 x 768 pixels and 256 colours. The package also includes the means for the acquisition of the co-ordinates of relevant marker points on the body segments and for their export to another package we have developed (Ferreira & Correia da Silva. 1991) which is capable of quantifying the kinematics of the body movement as well as of simulating alternative segment trajectories. Reference: Ferreira. C. & K.Correia da Silva(1991). "John- a Three- Dimensional Model for the Simulation of Human Movement". Proc. First Congress on Computer Science and New Technologies, Malaga

Projected impacts of sowing date and cultivar choice on the timing of heat and drought stress in spring barley grown along a European transect

Publisher Copyright: © 2022Barley is one of the most important cereals for animal and human consumption. Barley heading and grain filling are especially vulnerable to heat and drought stress, which are projected to increase in the future. Therefore, site-specific adaptation options, like cultivar choice or shifting sowing dates, will be necessary. Using a global climate model ensemble and a phenology model we projected spring barley heading and maturity dates for 2031–50 for climatically contrasting sites: Helsinki (Finland), Dundee (Scotland) and Zaragoza (Spain). We compared the projected future heading and maturity dates with the baseline period (1981–2010) and described corresponding heat and drought stress conditions and how they were affected by adaptation options, i.e. shifting the sowing date by + /- 10–20 days, choosing early or late heading cultivars or combining both adaptation options, with agroclimatic indicators. At all sites and sowing dates, heading and maturity in 2031–50 occurred earlier (up to three weeks with earliest sowing) than in the baseline period. Along the European transect, the projected heading and grain filling periods were hotter than under baseline conditions but advancing heading alleviated heat stress notably. Different indicators signaled more severe drought conditions for 2031–50. At Helsinki, delayed heading periods were exposed to less drought stress, likely because the typical early summer droughts were avoided. At Zaragoza, fewer, yet more intense, rainfall events occurred during grain filling of the early cultivars. Only under scenario RCP4.5, heading and grain filling periods at Dundee were slightly wetter for the early cultivars. Our study provides a unique overview of agroclimatic conditions for heading and grain filling periods projected for 2031–50 along a climatic transect and quantifies the effects of different adaptations for spring barley. The approach can be extended by coupling the agroclimatic indicators with crop modelling.Peer reviewe

Role of dynamical particle-vibration coupling in reconciliation of the d3/2d_{3/2} puzzle for spherical proton emitters

It has been observed that decay rate for proton emission from $d_{3/2}$ single particle state is systematically quenched compared with the prediction of a one dimensional potential model although the same model successfully accounts for measured decay rates from $s_{1/2}$ and $h_{11/2}$ states. We reconcile this discrepancy by solving coupled-channels equations, taking into account couplings between the proton motion and vibrational excitations of a daughter nucleus. We apply the formalism to proton emitting nuclei $^{160,161}$Re to show that there is a certain range of parameter set of the excitation energy and the dynamical deformation parameter for the quadrupole phonon excitation which reproduces simultaneously the experimental decay rates from the 2$d_{3/2}$, 3$s_{1/2}$ and 1$h_{11/2}$ states in these nuclei.Comment: RevTex, 12 pages, 4 eps figure

The extended empirical process test for non-Gaussianity in the CMB, with an application to non-Gaussian inflationary models

In (Hansen et al. 2002) we presented a new approach for measuring non-Gaussianity of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy pattern, based on the multivariate empirical distribution function of the spherical harmonics a_lm of a CMB map. The present paper builds upon the same ideas and proposes several improvements and extensions. More precisely, we exploit the additional information on the random phases of the a_lm to provide further tests based on the empirical distribution function. Also we take advantage of the effect of rotations in improving the power of our procedures. The suggested tests are implemented on physically motivated models of non-Gaussian fields; Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that this approach may be very promising in the analysis of non-Gaussianity generated by non-standard models of inflation. We address also some experimentally meaningful situations, such as the presence of instrumental noise and a galactic cut in the map.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.