A Framework for Agile Development of Component-Based Applications

Agile development processes and component-based software architectures are two software engineering approaches that contribute to enable the rapid building and evolution of applications. Nevertheless, few approaches have proposed a framework to combine agile and component-based development, allowing an application to be tested throughout the entire development cycle. To address this problematic, we have built CALICO, a model-based framework that allows applications to be safely developed in an iterative and incremental manner. The CALICO approach relies on the synchronization of a model view, which specifies the application properties, and a runtime view, which contains the application in its execution context. Tests on the application specifications that require values only known at runtime, are automatically integrated by CALICO into the running application, and the captured needed values are reified at execution time to resume the tests and inform the architect of potential problems. Any modification at the model level that does not introduce new errors is automatically propagated to the running system, allowing the safe evolution of the application. In this paper, we illustrate the CALICO development process with a concrete example and provide information on the current implementation of our framework

Contrôle de la fiabilité des logiciels à évoluer : un canevas pour le développement incrémental et itératif de logiciels à composants et orientés service

National audienceLes systèmes logiciels modernes se distinguent par un besoin d'évolution rapide et une complexité croissante, avec notamment l'apparition de nouveaux domaines d'applications, comme par exemple les logiciels destinés aux périphériques mobiles, c'est-à-dire les assistants mobiles tels que les téléphones ou encore les tablettes. Dans ces domaines, les utilisateurs réclament que les logiciels fournissent toujours plus de fonctionnalités. Ces logiciels ont alors besoin de prendre en compte ces nouvelles exigences demandées, tout en ayant conscience du nombre toujours croissant de périphériques hétérogènes

Mesangial Cell-Specific Antibodies Are Central to the Pathogenesis of Lupus Nephritis

Not only is nephritis a common complaint in systemic lupus erythematosus, but it is also the most life-threatening complication of the disease. Anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies (Abs), which are found in up to 80% of these patients, might be nephritogenic per se. That is, they may cross-react with mesangial cell (MC) surface proteins, such as alpha-actinin and annexin A2, they may cross-react with mesangial matrix protein such as laminine and fibronectin, or they may recognize chromatin material previously deposited in the glomeruli. The consequence of the binding of anti-MC Abs may be their internalization, which results in activation and proliferation of these MCs. In turn, these activated MCs are suspected of promoting immune complex formation by sequestering and thereby protecting chromatin from degradation. The present paper will explain the mechanisms through which such autoAbs may initiate nephritis

Construction, assembly and tests of the ATLAS electromagnetic barrel calorimeter

The construction and assembly of the two half barrels of the ATLAS central electromagnetic calorimeter and their insertion into the barrel cryostat are described. The results of the qualification tests of the calorimeter before installation in the LHC ATLAS pit are given

Planck pre-launch status : The Planck mission

Peer reviewe

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome associated with COVID-19: An Emulated Target Trial Analysis.

RATIONALE: Whether COVID patients may benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) compared with conventional invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of ECMO on 90-Day mortality vs IMV only Methods: Among 4,244 critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 included in a multicenter cohort study, we emulated a target trial comparing the treatment strategies of initiating ECMO vs. no ECMO within 7 days of IMV in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO2/FiO2 <80 or PaCO2 ≥60 mmHg). We controlled for confounding using a multivariable Cox model based on predefined variables. MAIN RESULTS: 1,235 patients met the full eligibility criteria for the emulated trial, among whom 164 patients initiated ECMO. The ECMO strategy had a higher survival probability at Day-7 from the onset of eligibility criteria (87% vs 83%, risk difference: 4%, 95% CI 0;9%) which decreased during follow-up (survival at Day-90: 63% vs 65%, risk difference: -2%, 95% CI -10;5%). However, ECMO was associated with higher survival when performed in high-volume ECMO centers or in regions where a specific ECMO network organization was set up to handle high demand, and when initiated within the first 4 days of MV and in profoundly hypoxemic patients. CONCLUSIONS: In an emulated trial based on a nationwide COVID-19 cohort, we found differential survival over time of an ECMO compared with a no-ECMO strategy. However, ECMO was consistently associated with better outcomes when performed in high-volume centers and in regions with ECMO capacities specifically organized to handle high demand. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

The management of psychosocial hazards at work throufg the psychological lens

Due to the rise of psychosocial hazards and its increasing healthcare associated costs in Europe but also in the whole World, the poor management of those risks becomes an urgent issue to overcome for the states and companies but above all, for the people who suffer from it. The problem is that there is not enough awareness among the society about psychosocial factors and its associated risks. Our master thesis aims at examining and determining the roots of psychosocial hazards by starting from an already existing case study to set and classify the main variables. Thus, through the lens of psychologists and psychiatrists we interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire, we compare and analyze these variables and their answers in order to identify what are the most important factors to deal with in priority and how to manage them properly. Again, through the lens of the specialists in the field and ours, we question the risk management paradigm presented as a solution to tackle psychosocial hazards in the European survey we found. The main goals of our thesis are to raise awareness among people about psychosocial factors and its associated risks but also to provide a solution to identify and manage them properly in a lucid and realistic leadership but also more human, thanks to the enlightening vision of our dear interviewees

Participants of the CERN-UNESCO School on Digital Libraries

Images shot during the one-week long school on digital libraries, with attendees from Kenya, Cameroon, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

FIESTA : A Generic Framework for Integrating New Functionalities into Software Architectures

International audienceWhen an application must evolve to cope with new context and user requirements, integrating new functionalities into its software architecture is necessary. The architect has thus to manually modify the architecture description, which is often tedious and error prone. In this paper, we propose FIESTA, a generic framework for automatically integrating new functionalities into an architecture description. Our approach is inspired by TranSAT, an integration framework. However, TranSAT is dedicated to a specific architecture description language (ADL) while our approach is ADL-independent. We have performed a domain analysis, studying for many ADLs how to integrate new functionalities. Based on this analysis, we have defined a generic ADL model to manipulate and reason about architectural elements that are involved in integration. Furthermore, we have developed a generic integration engine

Architectural Specification and Static Analyses of Contractual Application Properties

International audienceBeing able to specify and verify contractual application properties at the architecture level allows architects to build better architected and more reliable systems. In this paper, we propose a model-based framework for designing contractualized architecture, independently of any paradigm (components or services). It enables a software architect to express the structural, behavioral, dataflow and QoS properties of his/her application. Our framework composes these properties in order to compute and check the properties of the assemblies incrementally. This allows architects to see the influence of their design decisions on the quality of his/her architecture and thus helps them to better design their systems architecture