Ejecución eficiente de secuencias de navegación web

Programa Oficial de Doutoramento en Tecnoloxías da Información e as Comunicacións. 5032V01[Resumen] Las aplicaciones de automatización web se utilizan ampliamente para diferentes propósitos, tales como integración B2B o pruebas automatizadas de aplicaciones web. En la mayoría de los sistemas, el componente de navegación automático, se desarrolla utilizando las APIs de navegadores convencionales (ej. Internet Explorer o Firefox). Esta aproximación, presenta problemas de rendimiento en tareas de automatización web intensivas, que requieren de respuestas en tiempo real y/o de un alto nivel de paralelismo. Otros sistemas, utilizan componentes de navegación especializados, que omiten ciertas etapas de procesamiento de los navegadores convencionales, pero funcionan de forma similar a éstos, a la hora de cargar y construir la representación interna de las páginas web. En esta tesis doctoral, se presenta un conjunto de técnicas de optimización, que permiten ejecutar eficientemente tareas de automatización web. Estas técnicas, se aplican cuando el componente de navegación construye la representación interna de las páginas web. Además, también se ha diseñado una arquitectura completa para un componente de navegación especializado en automatización web, que da soporte a las novedosas técnicas de optimización diseñadas previamente. Para validar experimentalmente las técnicas de optimización y el rendimiento de la arquitectura, se ha desarrollado una implementación de referencia, que sigue todos los principios de esta arquitectura. Dicha implementación, ha sido comparada con otros sistemas de navegación, utilizando sitios web reales.[Abstract] Web automation applications are widely used for different purposes, such as B2B integration and automated testing of web applications. Most current systems, build the automatic web navigation component by using the APIs of conventional browsers. This approach suffers performance problems for intensive web automation environments, which require real time responses and/or a high degree of parallelism. Other systems, use the approach of creating custom browsers to avoid some of the processing steps of conventional browsers, but they work like them when loading and building the internal representation of the web pages. In this PhD, we present a set of optimization techniques that allow an efficient execution of the Web automation tasks. These techniques, can be applied when the navigation component builds the internal representation of the Web page. In addition, we designed a complete architecture for a custom browser specialized in the execution of Web automation tasks. The proposed architecture, supports the novel optimization techniques previously designed. Finally, to evaluate the validity of the optimization techniques and the performance of the proposed architecture, we develop a reference implementation following the architecture principles. This reference implementation, was validated comparing it with other navigation components, using real Web sites.[Resumo] As aplicacions de automatización web, utilízanse amplamente para diferentes propósitos, tales como integración B2B ou probas automatizadas de aplicacións web. Na meirande parte dos sistemas, o compoñente de navegación automático desenrólase empregando as APIs dos navegadores convencionais (ex. Internet Explorer ou Firefox). Esta aproximación, presenta problemas de rendemento en tarefas de automatización web intensivas que requiren de respostas en tempo real e/ou de un alto grao de paralelismo. Outros sistemas, empregan compoñentes de navegación especializados, que omiten certas etapas de procesamento dos navegadores convencionais, pero funcionan de maneira similar a estes, á hora de cargar e construír a representación interna da páxina web. Nesta tese de doutoramento, preséntase un conxunto de técnicas de optimización, que permiten executar eficientemente, tarefas de automatización web. Estas técnicas, aplícanse cando o compoñente de navegación constrúe a representación interna das páxinas web. Ademais, tamén se deseñou unha arquitectura completa para un compoñente de navegación especializado na automatización web, que da soporte as novidosas técnicas de optimización deseñadas previamente. Para validar experimentalmente as técnicas de optimización e o rendemento da arquitectura, desenrolouse unha implementación de referencia, que segue todos os principios desta arquitectura. Dita implementación, foi comparada con outros sistemas de navegación, empregando sitios web reais

Association Between Preschoolers' Specific Fine (But Not Gross) Motor Skills and Later Academic Competencies: Educational Implications

Motor development is an inseparable component of cognitive development. So, to develop the mind, it is necessary to work the body. Therefore, Early Childhood Education curricula and the scientific literature emphasize the need to promote the development of motor skills during the 1st years of life. These skills are necessary for learning and subsequent academic performance. However, studies frequently offer only a partial view of these relationships. Few works have analyzed the specific relationships between different components of preschool gross and fine motor skills and subsequent performance on different academic competencies. Further, they present discrepant results. The aim of this study was to determinate which specific components of gross and fine motor skills assessed in Spanish students during the final year of Early Childhood Education (5 to 6-year-olds) were associated with different academic competencies assessed in the following academic year, when the students were in their 1st year of Primary Education. The final sample consisted of 38 Spanish students, aged 5. A mixed methods approach was used. It consisted of systematic observation to assess specific components of gross and fine motor skills when children were in the Early Childhood Education period, and selective methodology to evaluate their academic competencies (specifically in literacy and mathematics and overall), 1 year later, once in Primary Education. Multiple linear regression models were constructed using the computing language R to examine the association between motor skills and academic competencies. The results indicated that only the components of fine motor skills showed associations with academic competencies. The pattern of association varied when literacy and mathematics competencies were specifically and individually assessed and when overall academic competency was considered. The two assessed fine motor skills (Coordination and Integration) were associated with literacy competency (β = 0.344, p = 0.025; β = 0.349, p = 0.024, respectively) and overall academic competency (β = 0.267, p = 0.065; β = 0.493, p = 0.001, respectively). However, only Integration was associated with mathematics competency (β = 0.476, p = 0.002). The 'Discussion' section focuses on the educational implications of these results and future research. It highlights the importance of early assessment of fine motor skills to identify students likely to present inadequate subsequent academic performance and the need to apply instruction and interventions tailored to the specific needs of each child

Glucocorticoids modulate gastrointestinal microbiome in a wild bird.

It has recently been hypothesized that stress exposure (e.g. via glucocorticoid secretion) may dysregulate the bacterial gut microbiome, a crucial \u27organ\u27 in animal health. However, whether stress exposure (e.g. via glucocorticoid secretion) affects the bacterial gut microbiome of natural populations is unknown. We have experimentally altered the basal glucocorticoid level (corticosterone implants) in a wild avian species, the yellow-legged gul

Efficient execution of web navigation sequences

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28795-4_15.[Abstract]: Web automation applications are widely used for different purposes such as B2B integration and automated testing of web applications. Most current systems build the automatic web navigation component by using the APIs of conventional browsers. While this approach has its advantages, it suffers performance problems for intensive web automation tasks which require real time responses and/or a high degree of parallelism. In this paper, we outline a set of techniques to build a web navigation component able to efficiently execute web navigation sequences. These techniques detect what elements and scripts of the pages accessed during the navigation sequence are needed for the correct execution of the sequence (and, therefore, must be loaded and executed), and what parts of the pages can be discarded. The tests executed with real web sources show that the optimized navigation sequences run significantly faster and consume significantly less resources.This research was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under projects TIN2009-14203 and TIN2010-09988-E, and the European Commission under project FP7-SEC-2007-01 Proposal N° 218223

The importance of export relational exchanges

El objetivo del presente trabajo es doble. En primer lugar, analizar cuáles son los antecedentes de los intercambios relacionales en el ámbito de las exportaciones. Así, estudiaremos el efecto que sobre los mismos ejerce la dependencia del exportador respecto a sus representantes legales en los mercados internacionales y las competencias de la empresa exportadora en el ámbito internacional. En segundo lugar, analizar el efecto que sobre el resultado exportador ejercen las denominadas normas relacionales (cooperación, intercambio de información y flexibilidad). Los resultados del estudio empírico, efectuado sobre una muestra de 150 empresas exportadoras gallegas, confirman que las características empresariales y las competencias internacionales condicionan el clima relacional entre los exportadores y sus distribuidores extranjeros. Además, las normas relacionales se revelan como determinantes esenciales del resultado logrado por la empresa exportadora en los mercados exteriores.The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we analyze the antecedents of the relational exchanges in the export field. Thus, we’ll study the influence of exporter's dependence regarding his foreign agents and exporter’s international competencies in relational exchanges. Second, we examine the influence of some relational norms (cooperation, exchange of information and flexibility) in export performance. The results of the empiric study performed with a sample 150 Galician exporter firms confirm that international competencies have influence over the relationship between exporters and their foreign distributors. Moreover, relational norms are shown as essential determinants of export performance

Adaptation of marketing-mix strategy and characteristics of exporting companies: implications on export performance

El estudio de los antecedentes del resultado exportador es una de las líneas de investigación más prolíferas en la literatura de marketing internacional. Entre los factores analizados por los minvestigadores como posibles determinantes del éxito exportador están las características empresariales y la estrategia de marketing-mix desarrollada por las empresas, aunque no existe un consenso entre los resultados obtenidos. En este sentido, el objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar, mediante la aplicación de un modelo logit sobre una muestra de 150 empresas exportadoras españolas, la influencia que estas variables ejercen sobre el resultado exportador, analizando además si la estrategia de marketing-mix está condicionada por las características de las empresas.The study of the antecedents of export performance is a research line that has been paid a lot of attention in the literature of international marketing. Firm’s characteristics and marketingmix strategy are among the factors analyzed by researchers as possible determinant of export performance, although there is no agreement among the results. In this sense, the objective of the present work is to analyze, by using a logit model with a sample of 150 Spanish exporters, the influence that these variables have over export performance, as well as the influence of firm’s characteristics over marketing-mix strategy

Effects of export proactivity and market orientation on foreign trade operations

El objetivo del presente trabajo, de naturaleza exploratoria, es analizar, a través de un modelo conceptual y de los datos recogidos a partir de una muestra de 150 empresas exportadoras españolas, las consecuencias de la proactividad exportadora y de la orientación al mercado en las operaciones de comercio exterior. Más concretamente, se analiza como ambos factores influencian el nivel de compromiso exportador de la organización, así como las decisiones estratégicas tendentes a adaptar los elementos de marketing-mix a las necesidades de los mercados extranjeros. Además, se evalúa como tales comportamientos empresariales en el ámbito internacional influyen en las percepciones directivas sobre el logro de ventajas competitivas en los mercados extranjeros, así como en las actitudes futuras de la dirección de la empresa hacia su actividad exportadora. Los resultados corroboran el importante papel que desempeña la proactividad exportadora y la orientación al mercado en los comportamientos, percepciones y actitudes directivas hacia la exportación, siendo recomendable potenciar tales orientaciones en aquellas organizaciones que realizan operaciones de comercio exterior.The aim of this paper, exploratory, is to analyze, through a conceptual model and the information obtained from a sample of 150 Spanish export firms, the impact of export and proactive market orientation on business operations abroad. More specifically, we analyze how these two factors influence the level of export commitment of the organization, and strategic decisions aimed at adapting the elements of marketing mix to the needs of foreign markets. Also evaluates such conduct business internationally directives affect perceptions about the achievement of competitive advantages in foreign markets and in the future attitudes of the management of the company towards its export activity. The results confirm the important role of exporting and proactive market orientation on the behaviors, attitudes, perceptions and policies towards exports, strengthen those guidelines being recommended for organizations that conduct business abroad

Automatic Optimization of Web Navigation Sequences

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28795-4_15.[Abstract]: Web automation applications are widely used for different purposes such as B2B integration, automated testing of web applications or technology and business watch. In this work-in-progress paper we outline a set of techniques which constitute the basis to build a web navigation component able to analyze a web navigation sequence and automatically optimize it, detecting which parts of the loaded pages are needed, and which ones can be discarded in the following executions of the sequence. Our techniques build on the Document Object Model and the first tests executed with real web sources have found them to be very effective.This research was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under project TIN2010-09988-E, and the European Commission under project FP7-SEC-2007-01 Proposal Nº 218223

Parallel JavaScript Execution in Web Navigation Sequences

© 2015 IEEE. This version of the paper has been accepted for publication. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. The final published paper is available online at: https://doi.org/0.1109/WI-IAT.2015.165.[Abstract]: Web automation applications are widely used for different purposes such as B2B integration and automated testing of web applications. Most current systems build the automatic web navigation component by using the APIs of conventional browsers. This approach suffers performance problems for intensive web automation tasks which require real time responses. Other systems use the approach of creating custom browsers specially designed for web automation. Those browsers can develop some improvements based in the peculiarities of the web automation tasks. In this paper, we present a novel optimization technique that allows the parallel execution of the JavaScript while the navigation component loads the web page. This technique is based in the analysis of the interactions between the scripts during the first loading of the web page, generating some useful information that will be saved and used in the next executions. The tests executed with real web sources show that the scripts contained in the HTML documents can be evaluated concurrently and the navigation component loads the web pages faster when the scripts are executed in parallel

A Custom Browser Architecture to Execute Web Navigation Sequences

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26187-4_11.[Abstract]: Web automation applications are widely used for different purposes such as B2B integration and automated testing of web applications. Most current systems build the automatic web navigation component by using the APIs of conventional browsers. This approach suffers performance problems for intensive web automation tasks which require real time responses and/or a high degree of parallelism. Other systems use the approach of creating custom browsers to avoid some of the tasks of conventional browsers, but they work like them, when building the internal representation of the web pages. In this paper, we present a complete architecture for a custom browser able to efficiently execute web navigation sequences. The proposed architecture supports some novel automatic optimization techniques that can be applied when loading and building the internal representation of the pages. The tests performed using real web sources show that the reference implementation of the proposed architecture runs significantly faster than other navigation components