Embedding object-oriented design in system engineering

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a collection of techniques intended to document design decisions about software. This contrasts with systems engineering approaches such as for exampleStatemate and the Yourdon Systems Method (YSM), in which the design of an entire system consisting of software and hardware can be documented. The difference between the system- and the software level is reflected in differences between execution semantics as well as in methodology. In this paper, I show how the UML can be used as a system-level design technique. I give a conceptual framework for engineering design that accommodates the system- as well as the software level and show how techniques from the UML and YSM can be classified within this framework, and how this allows a coherent use of these techniques in a system engineering approach. These ideas are illustrated by a case study in which software for a compact dynamic bus station is designed. Finally, I discuss the consequences of this approach for a semantics of UML constructs that would be appropriate for system-level design

PoN-S : a systematic approach for applying the Physics of Notation (PoN)

Visual Modeling Languages (VMLs) are important instruments of communication between modelers and stakeholders. Thus, it is important to provide guidelines for designing VMLs. The most widespread approach for analyzing and designing concrete syntaxes for VMLs is the so-called Physics of Notation (PoN). PoN has been successfully applied in the analysis of several VMLs. However, despite its popularity, the application of PoN principles for designing VMLs has been limited. This paper presents a systematic approach for applying PoN in the design of the concrete syntax of VMLs. We propose here a design process establishing activities to be performed, their connection to PoN principles, as well as criteria for grouping PoN principles that guide this process. Moreover, we present a case study in which a visual notation for representing Ontology Pattern Languages is designed

Continuous Experimentation for Automotive Software on the Example of a Heavy Commercial Vehicle in Daily Operation

As the automotive industry focuses its attention more and more towards the software functionality of vehicles, techniques to deliver new software value at a fast pace are needed. Continuous Experimentation, a practice coming from the web-based systems world, is one of such techniques. It enables researchers and developers to use real-world data to verify their hypothesis and steer the software evolution based on performances and user preferences, reducing the reliance on simulations and guesswork. Several challenges prevent the verbatim adoption of this practice on automotive cyber-physical systems, e.g., safety concerns and limitations from computational resources; nonetheless, the automotive field is starting to take interest in this technique. This work aims at demonstrating and evaluating a prototypical Continuous Experimentation infrastructure, implemented on a distributed computational system housed in a commercial truck tractor that is used in daily operations by a logistic company on public roads. The system comprises computing units and sensors, and software deployment and data retrieval are only possible remotely via a mobile data connection due to the commercial interests of the logistics company. This study shows that the proposed experimentation process resulted in the development team being able to base software development choices on the real-world data collected during the experimental procedure. Additionally, a set of previously identified design criteria to enable Continuous Experimentation on automotive systems was discussed and their validity confirmed in the light of the presented work.Comment: Paper accepted to the 14th European Conference on Software Architecture (ECSA 2020). 16 pages, 5 figure

Responsibility modelling for civil emergency planning

This paper presents a new approach to analysing and understanding civil emergency planning based on the notion of responsibility modelling combined with HAZOPS-style analysis of information requirements. Our goal is to represent complex contingency plans so that they can be more readily understood, so that inconsistencies can be highlighted and vulnerabilities discovered. In this paper, we outline the framework for contingency planning in the United Kingdom and introduce the notion of responsibility models as a means of representing the key features of contingency plans. Using a case study of a flooding emergency, we illustrate our approach to responsibility modelling and suggest how it adds value to current textual contingency plans

A Logic for the Specification of Multi-Object Systems

We present Multi-Object Dynamic Logic (MODL), a generalization of Dynamic Logic of which the intended use is the declarative specification of systems that are conceptually described by a multitude of objects. In an example specification of the controls of a railroad crossing we demonstrate how MODL can be used to give semantics and reasoning capacity to graphical languages for communicating multi-object systems. Finally we study to what extend temporal and mixed dynamic/temporal properties can be expressed in MODL

Resposta terapêutica e profilática com ferro e ácido fólico na anemia em crianças de creches públicas em Goiânia, Goiás, Brasil: ensaio clínico randomizado

The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of anemia and the therapeutic and prophylactic response to ferrous sulfate and folic acid. A double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted with 196 children 6 to 24 months of age enrolled in municipal daycare centers in Goiânia, Goiás State, Brazil. The children were assigned to two treatment groups that received a daily dose (5 times a week) of either 4.2mg/kg/day of ferrous sulfate + folic acid (50µg) or 4.2mg/kg/day of ferrous sulfate + folic acid placebo. One of the prevention groups received 1.4mg/kg/day of ferrous sulfate + folic acid (50µg/day) and the other 1.4mg/kg/day of ferrous sulfate + folic acid placebo. Supplementation lasted approximately three months. Baseline anemia prevalence was 56.1% (95%CI: 48.9-63.1). After treatment, anemia prevalence in the folic acid group (14%) was lower than in the placebo group (34.9%) (p = 0.02). After prophylaxis in the non-anemic children, the incidence of anemia did not differ between the groups, but there was an increase in hemoglobin level in the folic acid group (p = 0.003). Iron plus folic acid was effective for the treatment of anemia and improvement of hemoglobin level in non-anemic children.Avaliar a prevalência de anemia e a resposta terapêutica e profilática do sulfato ferroso e ácido fólico. Realizou-se um ensaio clínico controlado randomizado, duplo-cego, com 196 crianças de 6 a 24 meses, dos Centros Municipais de Educação Infantil de Goiânia, Goiás, Brasil. As crianças foram alocadas em dois grupos de tratamento que receberam dose diária (5x/semana) com 4,2mg/kg/dia de sulfato ferroso + ácido fólico (50µg) ou 4,2mg/kg/dia de sulfato ferroso + placebo de ácido fólico. Um dos grupos de prevenção recebeu 1,4 mg/kg/dia de sulfato ferroso + ácido fólico (50µg/dia) e o outro 1,4mg/kg/dia de sulfato ferroso + placebo de ácido fólico. A suplementação durou cerca de três meses. A prevalência de anemia inicial foi de 56,1% (IC95%: 48,9-63,1). Após o tratamento, a prevalência de anemia no grupo ácido fólico (14%) foi menor que no grupo placebo (34,9%; p = 0,02). Após profilaxia dos não anêmicos, a incidência de anemia não diferiu entre os grupos, porém, houve incremento da hemoglobina no grupo ácido fólico (p = 0,003). O ferro associado com ácido fólico foi eficaz no tratamento da anemia e na melhoria da hemoglobina nos não anêmicos.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal de Goiás Faculdade de NutriçãoUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)Universidade Federal de Goiás Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde PúblicaVila São José Bento CotolengoUNIFESPSciEL

Comparative Effectiveness of Guidelines for the Management of Hyperlipidemia and Hypertension for Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Background: Several guidelines to reduce cardiovascular risk in diabetes patients exist in North America, Europe, and Australia. Their ability to achieve this goal efficiently is unclear. Methods and Findings: Decision analysis was used to compare the efficiency and effectiveness of international contemporary guidelines for the management of hypertension and hyperlipidemia for patients aged 40-80 with type 2 diabetes. Measures of comparative effectiveness included the expected probability of a coronary or stroke event, incremental medication costs per event, and number-needed-to-treat (NNT) to prevent an event. All guidelines are equally effective, but they differ significantly in their medication costs. The range of NNT to prevent an event was small across guidelines (6.5-7.6 for males and 6.5-7.5 for females); a larger range of differences were observed for expected cost per event avoided (ranges, $117,269-$157,186 for males and $115,999-$163,775 for females). Australian and U.S. guidelines result in the highest and lowest expected costs, respectively. Conclusions: International guidelines based on the same evidence and seeking the same goal are similar in their effectiveness; however, there are large differences in expected medication costs. © 2011 Shah et al

On the Multi-Language Construction

Modern software is no more developed in a single programming language. Instead, programmers tend to exploit cross-language interoperability mechanisms to combine code stemming from different languages, and thus yielding fully-fledged multi-language programs. Whilst this approach enables developers to benefit from the strengths of each single-language, on the other hand it complicates the semantics of such programs. Indeed, the resulting multi-language does not meet any of the semantics of the combined languages. In this paper, we broaden the boundary functions-based approach a la Matthews and Findler to propose an algebraic framework that provides a constructive mathematical notion of multi-language able to determine its semantics. The aim of this work is to overcome the lack of a formal method (resp., model) to design (resp., represent) a multi-language, regardless of the inherent nature of the underlying languages. We show that our construction ensures the uniqueness of the semantic function (i.e., the multi-language semantics induced by the combined languages) by proving the initiality of the term model (i.e., the abstract syntax of the multi-language) in its category