Software dependability modeling using an industry-standard architecture description language

Performing dependability evaluation along with other analyses at architectural level allows both making architectural tradeoffs and predicting the effects of architectural decisions on the dependability of an application. This paper gives guidelines for building architectural dependability models for software systems using the AADL (Architecture Analysis and Design Language). It presents reusable modeling patterns for fault-tolerant applications and shows how the presented patterns can be used in the context of a subsystem of a real-life application

Patients with complicated Pott's disease: Management in a rehabilitation department and functional prognosis

AbstractObjectiveThe objective is to study the rehabilitation management and to assess autonomy in daily life activities as well as walking recovery in patients with complicated Pott's disease.Patients and methodsRetrospective study in nine patients over a period of 8 years extending from 2000 to 2008, collated in the Department of Physical Medicine and Functional Rehabilitation, CHU Sahloul, Sousse, Tunisia.ResultsThe mean age of our patients was 43.8 years; sex ratio was 5/4. The spine involvement of tuberculosis was dorsal in seven cases, dorso-lumbar in one patient, and multiple (cervical, dorsal and lumbar) in one case. All patients were paraplegic with a neurological involvement of the bladder. They had prior antituberculosis chemotherapy for at least 8 months. Decompression surgery was performed in six cases. Two female patients presented disorders of spinal posture during treatment requiring surgical revision with osteosynthesis. All patients received additional rehabilitation care. Following a mean duration of hospitalisation in the Rehabilitation department of 47 days with twice-daily sessions of tailored physiotherapy, three patients remained in complete paraplegia, autonomous in wheel-chair and with vesical and sphincter incontinence. The measure of functional independence (MFI) was at admission/discharge 71/92.ConclusionRehabilitation takes an important place in the medico-surgical management in Pott's disease, to limite or compensate the disabilities and handicap related to this pathology

Structural Transition-Induced Raman Enhancement in Bioinspired Diphenylalanine Peptide Nanotubes

Semiconducting materials are increasingly proposed as alternatives to noble metal nanomaterials to enhance Raman scattering. We demonstrate that bioinspired semiconducting diphenylalanine peptide nanotubes annealed through a reported structural transition can support Raman detection of 10-7 M concentrations for a range of molecules including mononucleotides. The enhancement is attributed to the introduction of electronic states below the conduction band that facilitate charge transfer to the analyte molecule. These results show that organic semiconductor-based materials can serve as platforms for enhanced Raman scattering for chemical sensing. As the sensor is metal-free, the enhancement is achieved without the introduction of electromagnetic surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.Science Foundation IrelandUCD School of PhysicsSustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI

Thermally-controlled spherical peptide gel architectures prepared using the pH switch method

Self-assembling nanostructured peptide gels are promising materials for sensing, drug delivery, and energy harvesting. Of particular interest are short diphenylalanine (FF) peptides modified with 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc), which promotes the association of the peptide building blocks. Fmoc-FF gels generally form fibrous networks and while other structures have been demonstrated, further control of the gelation and resulting ordered three-dimensional structures potentially offers new possibilities in tissue engineering, sensing, and drug release applications. Herein, we report that the structure tunability of Fmoc-FF gels can be achieved by controlling the water content and the temperature. We further explore the incorporation of metal nanoparticles in the formation of the gel to enable optical sensing applications based on hybrid Fmoc-FF-nanoparticle microspheres. Finally, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy reveals a correlation between lifetime and reduced bandgap, in support of a semiconductor-induced charge transfer mechanism that might also increase the stability of an excited state of a probe molecule. The observations potentially further widen the use of these peptide materials in bioimaging and sensing applications.Science Foundation IrelandEuropean Commission Horizon 2020Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi ArabiaMinistry of Higher Education of Saudi Arabia under the King Abdullah Scholarship Progra

Testing the robustness of controllers for self-adaptive systems

Self-Adaptive systems are software-intensive systems endowed with the ability to respond to a variety of changes that may occur in their environment, goals, or the system itself, by adapting their structure and behavior at run-time in an autonomous way. Controllers are complex components incorporated in self-adaptive systems, which are crucial to their function since they are in charge of adapting the target system by executing actions through effectors, based on information monitored by probes. However, although controllers are becoming critical in many application domains, so far very little has been done to assess their robustness. In this paper, we propose an approach for evaluating the robustness of controllers for self-adaptive software systems, aiming to identify faults in their design. Our proposal considers the stateful nature of the controller, and identifies a set of robustness tests, which includes the provision of mutated inputs to the interfaces between the controller and the target system (i.e., probes). The feasibility of the approach is evaluated on Rainbow, a framework for architecture-based self-adaptation, and in the context of the Znn.com case study

Resilient Computing Curriculum Draft -- ReSIST NoE Deliverable D16

This Deliverable presents the first version of ReSIST's Curriculum in Resilient Computing, limited to the description of the syllabi for the first year (Semesters 1 and 2) and indicates the line and title for the curriculum in the second year (semesters 3 and 4) and propose it to the general discussion for improvements. The curriculum will be updated and completed in successive versions that will take advantage of a large open discussion inside and outside ReSIS