Using Microservices to Customize Multi-Tenant SaaS: From Intrusive to Non-Intrusive

Customization is a widely adopted practice on enterprise software applications such as Enterprise resource planning (ERP) or Customer relation management (CRM). Software vendors deploy their enterprise software product on the premises of a customer, which is then often customized for different specific needs of the customer. When enterprise applications are moving to the cloud as mutli-tenant Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), the traditional way of on-premises customization faces new challenges because a customer no longer has an exclusive control to the application. To empower businesses with specific requirements on top of the shared standard SaaS, vendors need a novel approach to support the customization on the multi-tenant SaaS. In this paper, we summarize our two approaches for customizing multi-tenant SaaS using microservices: intrusive and non-intrusive. The paper clarifies the key concepts related to the problem of multi-tenant customization, and describes a design with a reference architecture and high-level principles. We also discuss the key technical challenges and the feasible solutions to implement this architecture. Our microservice-based customization solution is promising to meet the general customization requirements, and achieves a balance between isolation, assimilation and economy of scale

A Hybrid Fuzzy Cognitive Map/Support Vector Machine Approach for EEG-Based Emotion Classification Using Compressed Sensing

© 2018, Taiwan Fuzzy Systems Association and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Due to the high dimensional, non-stationary and non-linear properties of electroencephalogram (EEG), a significant portion of research on EEG analysis remains unknown. In this paper, a novel approach to EEG-based human emotion study is presented using Big Data methods with a hybrid classifier. An EEG dataset is firstly compressed using compressed sensing, then, wavelet transform features are extracted, and a hybrid Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Fuzzy Cognitive Map classifier is designed. The compressed data is only one-fourth of the original size, and the hybrid classifier has the average accuracy by 73.32%. Comparing to a single SVM classifier, the average accuracy is improved by 3.23%. These outcomes show that psychological signal can be compressed without the sparsity identity. The stable and high accuracy classification system demonstrates that EEG signal can detect human emotion, and the findings further prove the existence of the inter-relationship between various regions of the brain

Nonparametric dynamical model of cardiorespiratory responses at the onset and offset of treadmill exercises

© 2018, International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering. This paper applies a nonparametric modelling method with kernel-based regularization to estimate the carbon dioxide production during jogging exercises. The kernel selection and regularization strategies have been discussed; several commonly used kernels are compared regarding the goodness-of-fit, sensitivity, and stability. Based on that, the most appropriate kernel is then selected for the construction of the regularization term. Both the onset and offset of the jogging exercises are investigated. We compare the identified nonparametric models, which include both impulse response models and step response models for the two periods, as well as the relationship between oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production. The result statistically indicates that the steady-state gain of the carbon dioxide production in the onset of exercise is bigger than that in the offset while the response time of both onset and offset are similar. Compared with oxygen consumption, the response speed of carbon dioxide production is slightly slower in both onset and offset period while its steady-state gains are similar for both periods. The effectiveness of the kernel-based method for the dynamic modelling of cardiorespiratory response to exercise is also well demonstrated. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Rule discovery and distance separation to detect reliable miRNA biomarkers for the diagnosis of lung squamous cell carcinoma

© 2014 Song et al. Background: Altered expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) are linked to many diseases including lung cancer. miRNA expression profiling is reproducible and miRNAs are very stable. These characteristics of miRNAs make them ideal biomarker candidates. Method: This work is aimed to detect 2-and 3-miRNA groups, together with specific expression ranges of these miRNAs, to form simple linear discriminant rules for biomarker identification and biological interpretation. Our method is based on a novel committee of decision trees to derive 2-and 3-miRNA 100%-frequency rules. This method is applied to a data set of lung miRNA expression profiles of 61 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) samples and 10 normal tissue samples. A distance separation technique is used to select the most reliable rules which are then evaluated on a large independent data set. Results: We obtained four 2-miRNA and three 3-miRNA top-ranked rules. One important rule is that: If the expression level of miR-98 is above 7.356 and the expression level of miR-205 is below 9.601 (log2 quantile normalized MirVan miRNA Bioarray signals), then the sample is normal rather than cancerous with specificity and sensitivity both 100%. The classification performance of our best miRNA rules remarkably outperformed that by randomly selected miRNA rules. Our data analysis also showed that miR-98 and miR-205 have two common predicted target genes FZD3 and RPS6KA3, which are actually genes associated with carcinoma according to the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. We also found that most of the chromosomal loci of these miRNAs have a high frequency of genomic alteration in lung cancer. On the independent data set (with balanced controls), the three miRNAs miR-126, miR-205 and miR-182 from our best rule can separate the two classes of samples at the accuracy of 84.49%, sensitivity of 91.40% and specificity of 77.14%. Conclusion: Our results indicate that rule discovery followed by distance separation is a powerful computational method to identify reliable miRNA biomarkers. The visualization of the rules and the clear separation between the normal and cancer samples by our rules will help biology experts for their analysis and biological interpretation

Continuous Deployment of Trustworthy Smart IoT Systems.

While the next generation of IoT systems need to perform distributed processing and coordinated behaviour across IoT, Edge and Cloud infrastructures, their development and operation are still challenging. A major challenge is the high heterogeneity of their infrastructure, which broadens the surface for security attacks and increases the complexity of maintaining and evolving such complex systems. In this paper, we present our approach for Generation and Deployment of Smart IoT Systems (GeneSIS) to tame this complexity. GeneSIS leverages model-driven engineering to support the DevSecOps of Smart IoT Systems (SIS). More precisely, GeneSIS includes: (i) a domain specific modelling language to specify the deployment of SIS over IoT, Edge and Cloud infrastructure with the necessary concepts for security and privacy; and (ii) a [email protected] engine to enact the orchestration, deployment, and adaptation of these SIS. The results from our smart building case study have shown that GeneSIS can support security by design from the development (via deployment) to the operation of IoT systems and back again in a DevSecOps loop. In other words, GeneSIS enables IoT systems to keep up security and adapt to evolving conditions and threats while maintaining their trustworthiness.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Commission’s H2020 Programme under grant agreement numbers 780351 (ENACT)

Long-term use of antibiotics and risk of colorectal adenoma

Objective—Recent evidence suggests that antibiotic use, which alters the gut microbiome, is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. However, the association between antibiotic use and risk of colorectal adenoma, the precursor for the majority of colorectal cancers, has not been investigated. Design—We prospectively evaluated the association between antibiotic use at age 20–39 and 40–59 (assessed in 2004) and recent antibiotic use (assessed in 2008) with risk of subsequent colorectal adenoma among 16,642 women aged ≥60 enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study who underwent at least one colonoscopy through 2010. We used multivariate logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results—We documented 1,195 cases of adenoma. Increasing duration of antibiotic use at age 20–39 (Ptrend=0.002) and 40–59 (Ptrend=0.001) was significantly associated with an increased risk of colorectal adenoma. Compared to non-users, women who used antibiotics for ≥2 months between age 20–39 had a multivariable OR of 1.36 (95% CI: 1.03–1.79). Women who used ≥2 months of antibiotics between age 40–59 had a multivariable OR of 1.69 (95% CI: 1.24–2.31). The associations were similar for low-risk vs. high-risk adenomas (size ≥1 cm, or with tubulovillous/villous histology, or ≥3 detected lesions), but appeared modestly stronger for proximal compared with distal adenomas. In contrast, recent antibiotic use within the past 4 years was not associated with risk of adenoma (Ptrend=0.44). Conclusions—Long-term antibiotic use in early to middle adulthood was associated with increased risk of colorectal adenoma

Rubber Impact on 3D Textile Composites

A low velocity impact study of aircraft tire rubber on 3D textile-reinforced composite plates was performed experimentally and numerically. In contrast to regular unidirectional composite laminates, no delaminations occur in such a 3D textile composite. Yarn decohesions, matrix cracks and yarn ruptures have been identified as the major damage mechanisms under impact load. An increase in the number of 3D warp yarns is proposed to improve the impact damage resistance. The characteristic of a rubber impact is the high amount of elastic energy stored in the impactor during impact, which was more than 90% of the initial kinetic energy. This large geometrical deformation of the rubber during impact leads to a less localised loading of the target structure and poses great challenges for the numerical modelling. A hyperelastic Mooney-Rivlin constitutive law was used in Abaqus/Explicit based on a step-by-step validation with static rubber compression tests and low velocity impact tests on aluminium plates. Simulation models of the textile weave were developed on the meso- and macro-scale. The final correlation between impact simulation results on 3D textile-reinforced composite plates and impact test data was promising, highlighting the potential of such numerical simulation tools

Experimental study for local air/water flow structure of bubbly and slug flow regime

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.A study for local hydraulic characteristics of water and air/steam mixture flow is a very challenging topic for advanced thermal hydraulic analysis code development. Recently, many researchers made efforts in the study of mechanistic feature related to the two phase dynamics such as an interfacial area transport model. The mechanistic study for the interfacial area needs a lot of understanding for the bubble/drop dynamics and flow propagation phenomena. To generate an experimental data base for a modeling, an air/water test was performed in this study. The facility has a cylindrical acryl test section of which the diameter and height are 80 mm and 10m, respectively. The major local parameters to be measured are the void fraction, bubble/liquid velocities, interfacial area concentration and bubble size. To investigate the transport phenomena of the twophase parameters, a local probe and an impedance void meter(IVM) are installed at three axial elevations of the test section. (L/D=12.2, 42.2, 100.7) The test range covers 0.5~2.8 m/s and 0.04~1.2 m/s of the superficial liquid and gas velocity, respectively, which corresponds to the bubbly and slug flow regimes. The system pressure conditions are 0.2~0.3 MPa at the L/D=12.2.dc201

Prophylactic and Therapeutic Efficacy of Avian Antibodies against Influenza Virus H5N1 and H1N1 in Mice

Background: Pandemic influenza poses a serious threat to global health and the world economy. While vaccines are currently under development, passive immunization could offer an alternative strategy to prevent and treat influenza virus infection. Attempts to develop monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been made. However, passive immunization based on mAbs may require a cocktail of mAbs with broader specificity in order to provide full protection since mAbs are generally specific for single epitopes. Chicken immunoglobulins (IgY) found in egg yolk have been used mainly for treatment of infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Because the recent epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) strain H5N1 has resulted in serious economic losses to the poultry industry, many countries including Vietnam have introduced mass vaccination of poultry with H5N1 virus vaccines. We reasoned that IgY from consumable eggs available in supermarkets in Vietnam could provide protection against infections with HPAIV H5N1. Methods and Findings: We found that H5N1-specific IgY that are prepared from eggs available in supermarkets in Vietnam by a rapid and simple water dilution method cross-protect against infections with HPAIV H5N1 and related H5N2 strains in mice. When administered intranasally before or after lethal infection, the IgY prevent the infection or significantly reduce viral replication resulting in complete recovery from the disease, respectively. We further generated H1N1 virus-specific IgY by immunization of hens with inactivated H1N1 A/PR/8/34 as a model virus for the current pandemic H1N1/09 and found that such H1N1-specific IgY protect mice from lethal influenza virus infection. Conclusions: The findings suggest that readily available H5N1-specific IgY offer an enormous source of valuable biological material to combat a potential H5N1 pandemic. In addition, our study provides a proof-of-concept for the approach using virus-specific IgY as affordable, safe, and effective alternative for the control of influenza outbreaks, including the current H1N1 pandemic

Antibiotic therapy and risk of early-onset colorectal cancer: A national case-control study

INTRODUCTION: Antibiotic use has emerged as a risk factor for colorectal neoplasia and is hypothesized as a contributor to the rising incidence of colorectal cancer under age 50 years or early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC). However, the impact of antibiotic use and risk of EOCRC is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a population-based case-control study of CRC among individuals aged ≥18 years in the Epidemiology Strengthened by histoPathology Reports in Sweden (ESPRESSO) cohort (2006-2016). The primary outcome was EOCRC. A secondary outcome was CRC at any age. Incident CRC was pathologically confirmed, and for each, up to 5 population-based controls were matched on age, sex, county of residence, and calendar year. We assessed prescriptions until 6 months before CRC diagnosis. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: We identified 54,804 cases of CRC (2,557 EOCRCs) and 261,089 controls. Compared with none, previous antibiotic use was not associated with EOCRC risk after adjustment for potential confounders (aOR 1.06, 95% CI: 0.96, 1.17) with similarly null findings when stratified by anatomic tumor site. In contrast, previous antibiotic use was weakly associated with elevated risk for CRC at any age (aOR 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.07). A potential but modest link between broad-spectrum antibiotic use and EOCRC was observed (aOR 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.26). DISCUSSION: We found no conclusive evidence that antibiotics are associated with EOCRC risk. Although antibiotic use was weakly associated with risk of CRC at any age, the magnitude of association was modest, and the study period was relatively short