Performance Feedback A Common Thread in the Process to Provide Optimal Heart Failure Care⁎⁎Editorials published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of JACC or the American College of Cardiology.

Current software community players like academy and industry have been changing the traditional paradigms of software engineering towards context-awareness and distributed computing. Nowadays, service-oriented computing and context-aware computing are two emerging paradigms that are changing the way of designing, developing, providing and consuming software services. Whilst service-oriented computing is based on service-oriented architectures and it is focused on modelling functionality and providing flexible software services, context-aware computing is based on the context life cycle and it allows processing and changing the behaviour of such services given certain context information. The synergy between both paradigms is a core research topic in ubiquitous and pervasive computing widely applied to the Internet of Things and Smart Cities.In the present PhD thesis, we exploit this synergy by focusing on context-aware computing from the perspective of service-oriented computing, which is also known as context-aware service-oriented computing. Such research topic involves the management of context within different essential phases of the context life cycle that show how the context data moves from phase to phase in software services within the paradigm of the service-oriented computing. Hence, the work done in this thesis involves different components and processes that have the aim to accomplish the context life cycle, namely the acquisition, modelling, reasoning and dissemination of the context in service-oriented computing. Particularly, we make an effort to provide both a context ontology for context modelling, context reasoning and high-level context dissemination, and a context-aware monitoring architecture for context acquisition and low-level context dissemination.Such work of the thesis has been motivated for contributing in the solution of different issues mainly identified in the phases of context modelling and context acquisition that are a strong basis of the context life cycle. Firstly, in the context modelling we mainly identified the proliferation of several context models presenting some problems about: reusability, extensibility and adaptation. Secondly, in the context acquisition we mainly identified that existing monitoring infrastructures are not prepared to support the constant changes in their context and the context of other entities, including the services that they are supervising which provoke the provisioning of context data that is not reliable. In summary, this thesis explores three big research questions: 1) What context data to acquire and to model? This involves the study of the current state of the art of context models, specifically: which are these proposals and how are they related, what are their structural characteristics, what context information is the most addressed, and what are their most consolidated definitions. 2) How to model context data? This involves the development of a three-level context ontology with the aim of improving the reusability, extensibility and adaptation capabilities of existing context models. 3) How to acquire context data? This involves the development of a context-aware monitoring architecture that can be easily configured, adapted or evolved according to the constant changes of the context.The context model and the architecture proposed in this PhD thesis are validated through different scenarios and use cases, highlighting their integration in SUPERSEDE (www.supersede.eu), a European project in the H2020 program for fulfilling some requirements of data acquisition and management demonstrating that the context life cycle is supported.Els actors actuals de la comunitat de software, com l'acadèmia o la indústria, han anat canviant els paradigmes tradicionals de l'enginyeria de software cap a la sensibilitat al context i la computació distribuïda. Avui dia, la computació orientada a serveis i la computació conscient del context són dos paradigmes emergents que estan canviant la forma de dissenyar, desenvolupar, proporcionar i consumir serveis de software. Mentre que la computació orientada a serveis es basa en arquitectures orientades a serveis i se centra en el modelatge de la funcionalitat i la prestació de serveis de software flexibles, la computació sensible al context es basa en el cicle de vida del context i permet el processament i canviar el comportament d'aquest tipus de serveis donada una determinada informació del context. La sinergia entre els dos paradigmes és un tema central de recerca a la computació ubiqua i omnipresent, àmpliament aplicada a la Internet de les coses i les ciutats intel·ligents. En la present tesi doctoral explotem aquesta sinèrgia, centrant-se en la computació sensible al context des de la perspectiva de la computació orientada a serveis, que també es coneix com computació orientada a serveis sensibles al context. Tal tema de recerca implica la gestió de contexts en diferents fases essencials del cicle de vida del context que mostren com les dades de context es mouen d'una fase a l’altra en serveis de software dins del paradigma de la computació orientada a serveis. Per tant, el treball realitzat en aquesta tesi consisteix en diferents components i processos que tenen l'objectiu d'aconseguir el cicle de vida del context, és a dir, l'adquisició, el modelatge, el raonament i la difusió del context en computació orientada a serveis. En particular, fem un esforç per proporcionar tant una ontologia de context per a la modelització, raonament i difusió del context d'alt nivell, i una arquitectura de monitorització sensible al context per a l'adquisició i difusió del context de baix nivell. Aquest treball de tesi ha estat motivat per contribuir a la solució dels diferents problemes identificats principalment en les fases de modelatge de context i adquisició de context que són una base sòlida del cicle de vida del context. En primer lloc, en el modelatge de context es van identificar principalment la proliferació de diversos models de context que presenten alguns problemes sobre: reutilització, l'extensibilitat i l'adaptació. En segon lloc, en l'adquisició del context identifiquem principalment que les infraestructures de monitorització existents no estan preparats per suportar els canvis constants en el seu context i el context d'altres entitats, incloent-hi els serveis que s'estan supervisant, que provoquen un aprovisionament de dades de context que no és fiable. En resum, aquesta tesi explora tres grans preguntes de recerca: 1) Quines dades de context cal adquirir i modelar? Això implica l'estudi de l'estat actual de la tècnica dels models de context, en concret: ¿quines són aquestes propostes i com es relacionen, quines són les seves característiques estructurals, quina informació de context és la més adreçada, i quines són les seves definicions més consolidades. 2) Com modelar les dades de context? Això implica el desenvolupament d'una ontologia de context de tres nivells amb l'objectiu de millorar les capacitats de reutilització, extensibilitat i adaptació dels models de context existents. 3) Com adquirir dades de context? Això implica el desenvolupament d'una arquitectura de monitorització sensible al context que pot ser fàcilment configurat o adaptat d'acord amb els canvis del context. El model de context i l'arquitectura proposada en aquesta tesi doctoral es validen a través de diferents escenaris i casos d'ús, destacant la seva integració en SUPERSEDE, un projecte europeu en el programa H2020 per al compliment d'alguns requisits d'adquisició i gestió de dades que demostra que es dóna suport al cicle de vida del context

Measuring the growth rate of structure with Type IA Supernovae from LSST

We investigate measuring the peculiar motions of galaxies up to $z=0.5$ using Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from LSST, and predict the subsequent constraints on the growth rate of structure. We consider two cases. Our first is based on measurements of the volumetric SNe Ia rate and assumes we can obtain spectroscopic redshifts and light curves for varying fractions of objects that are detected pre-peak luminosity by LSST (some of which may be obtained by LSST itself and others which would require additional follow-up). We find that these measurements could produce growth rate constraints at $z<0.5$ that significantly outperform those using Redshift Space Distortions (RSD) with DESI or 4MOST, even though there are $\sim4\times$ fewer objects. For our second case, we use semi-analytic simulations and a prescription for the SNe Ia rate as a function of stellar mass and star formation rate to predict the number of LSST SNe IA whose host redshifts may already have been obtained with the Taipan+WALLABY surveys, or with a future multi-object spectroscopic survey. We find $\sim 18,000$ and $\sim 160,000$ SN Ia with host redshifts for these cases respectively. Whilst this is only a fraction of the total LSST-detected SNe Ia, they could be used to significantly augment and improve the growth rate constraints compared to only RSD. Ultimately, we find that combining LSST SNe Ia with large numbers of galaxy redshifts will provide the most powerful probe of large scale gravity in the $z<0.5$ regime over the coming decades.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. The Fisher matrix forecast code used in this paper can be found at: https://github.com/CullanHowlett/PV_fisher. Updated to fix error in Eq. 1 (thanks to Eric Linder for pointing this out

The effects of altered membrane fatty acid composition on the toxic interactions of heavy metals with Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

The effects of altered membrane fatty acid composition on the toxic interactions of heavy metals with Saccharomyces cerevisiae were examined. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was enriched with the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) linoleate (18:2) and linolenate (18:3) by growth in 18:2- or 18:3-supplemented medium. Incorporation of the exogenous PUF As resulted in them comprising greater than 65% and 40% of the total fatty acids in whole-cell and plasma membrane lipids, and nuclear membrane lipids, respectively. Incorporation of the exogenous PUF As had no discernible adverse effects on cell division. However, inhibition of cell division in the presence of Cd(N03)2 was accentuated by growth in the presence of the di-unsaturated fatty acid linoleate. Furthermore, susceptibility to both Cd2+ - and Cu2+ -induced plasma membrane permeabilisation and whole cell toxicity was markedly accentuated in PUF A-enriched cells, and increased with the degree of fatty acid unsaturation. The increased sensitivity ofPUFA-enriched cells to membrane permeabilisation and whole-cell toxicity was correlated with increased levels of lipid peroxidation in these cells. Cu2+ - and Cd2+_ induced lipid peroxidation was rapid and associated with a decline in plasma membrane lipid order, detected by fluorescence depolarization measurements. Levels of the lipid peroxidation products thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and conjugated dienes were markedly higher in PUF A-enriched cells, compared with unsupplemented cells, following exposure to cadmium or copper. Thus, lipid peroxidation was demonstrated as a major means of heavy metal toxicity in a microorganism for the first time. In addition, the effects ofPUFA-enrichment on the interactions of heavy metals with cellular nucleic acids were examined. Exposure ofPUFA-enriched cells to the redox-active metals chromium and copper resulted in the uncoupling of DNA synthesis from cell division, leading to sequential S phases. For example, DNA levels of up to 8C were evident in 18:3-enriched cells after only 4.5 h exposure to 100 JJ.M Cu(N03h. Using flow cytometry, the heterogeneity in susceptibility to copper toxicity of exponential phase S. cerevisiae was also examined. Susceptibility towards copper toxicity was demonstrated to be cell cycle stage-dependent, whereby G2/M phase cells were found to be the most susceptible towards copper toxicity. Staining with the oxidantsensitive probe 2',7' -dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCFDA) revealed that the greater copper sensitivity of G2/M phase cells correlated with elevated endogenous levels of reactive oxygen species in these cells

The International endomyocardial biopsy position paper: a basis for integration into modern clinical practice

Editoria

Environmental problems, uncertainty, and mathematical modeling

In this paper we discuss three rather special characteristics shared by many environmental problems. Namely, that (i) the environmental variables in which we are most interested constitute a stochastic process; (ii) the long-term or limiting behavior and the short-term or transient behavior are often both important; and (iii) the underlying probability distributions are likely to be influenced by the environmental policies or remedies that we choose to impose. This third characteristic implies the need to understand the impact of technologies and controls that influence the dynamics of the system. The control theoretic perspective of environmental engineering problems has, we believe, received less attention than it deserves in the literature. Consequently, after a brief discussion of the exogenous, control-independent case we focus on illustrating some special challenges and opportunities embedded in the control-dependent situations

An Ultrastructural Analysis of the Physical Organization of Collagenous (Type I) Matrices: One Determinant of Urothelium Maintenance In Vitro

Collagenous matrices, used as cell culture substrata, can be prepared from different collagen types in a variety of forms using a range of polymerization procedures. Type I collagen has been most frequently used either as dried collagen films or hydrated collagen gels. Sheets of isolated bladder urothelium, when plated onto such matrices prepared from type I collagen by different polymerization methods (eg. air-drying; NaOH; NaCl; NH3; or NH3 followed by glutaraldehyde crosslinking) demonstrate the capability of urothelial cells to attach to a variety of differently prepared matrices irrespective of polymerization procedure. In contrast, both cell proliferation and maintenance of the urothelium are markedly influenced by the polymerized form of the collagen matrix. Comparative ultrastructural (scanning and transmission electron microscopy) analysis of these matrices demonstrates dissimilarities in their physical organization. The level of filamentous, fibrillar or fibrous reaggregation of solubilized collagen molecules varies in relation to the polymerization procedure used viz, a) air dried matrices form a dense meshwork of many forms of collagen fibrils and associated filaments with an irregular surface array of coarser collagen fibres; b) matrices prepared by NaOH, NaCl and NH3 polymerization present no major differences and form a felt of interlocking collagen fibres with discrete filamentous networks associated with these fibres; and c) matrices polymerized by NH3 and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde form a dense meshwork of filaments with a more occasional distribution of fibrils associated with filaments or dense amorphous aggregates. The level of supramolecular reassemblage of solubilized collagen may be, therefore, a significant factor in determining urothelial cell growth and differentiation on collagen matrices