A language for behavioural modelling of architectural patterns

The complexity of interactions governing the coordination of loosely-coupled services, which forms the core of current software, brought behavioural issues up to the front of architectural concerns. This paper takes such a challenge seriously by lifting typical behaviour modelling techniques to the specification of both types and instances of architectural patterns in which the later ones are connected by ports that behave according to a water flow metaphor. A specific language is introduced for this purpose as well as a translator to mCRL2 so that the simulation and analysis techniques available in the corresponding toolset can be used to reason about (the behavioural layer of) software architectures. The approach is illustrated in a few examples(undefined

Verifying bigraphical models of architectural reconfigurations

ARCHERY is an architectural description language for modelling and reasoning about distributed, heterogeneous and dynamically reconfigurable systems. This paper proposes a structural semantics for ARCHERY, and a method for deriving labelled transition systems (LTS) in which states and transitions represent configurations and reconfiguration operations, respectively. Architectures are modelled by bigraphs and their dynamics by parametric reaction rules. The resulting LTSs can be regarded as Kripke frames, appropriate for verifying reconfiguration constraints over architectural patterns expressed in a modal logic. The derivation method proposed here applies Leifer's approach twice, and combines the results of each application to obtain a label representing a reconfiguration operation and its actual parameters. Labels obtained in this way are minimal and yield LTSs in which bisimulation is a congruence.FC

Analysing tactics in architectural patterns

We present an approach to analyse the application of tactics in architectural patterns. We define and illustrate the approach by resorting to Archery, a language for specifying, analysing and verifying architectural patterns. The approach consists of characterising the design principles of an architectural pattern as constraints, expressed in the language, and then, establishing a refinement relation based on their satisfaction. The application of tactics preserving refinement preserves the original design principles expressed themselves as constraints for the architectural pattern. The paper’s focus on fault-tolerance tactics, and identifies a set of requirements for a semantic framework characterising them. Model transformations to represent their application are discussed and illustrated through two case studies.FC

TOWARDS COHERENT MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING ACROSS THE EUROPEAN MACARONESIA

The biogeographic region known as European Macaronesia comprises the archipelagos of the Azores, Canary Islands and Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean. The collective exclusive economic zones surrounding the archipelagos is a vast area of approximately two million km2. The Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Union (EU) obliged EU Member States, including their archipelagos, to pursue sustainable use of their waters through Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). Planning the large marine areas of the Macaronesia is not an easy endeavour, particularly when establishing the domestic frameworks for MSP implies sharing of competences among national and subnational authorities and is dependent on inter-departmental collaboration. Furthermore, the complexity of MSP arrangements, including legislation, governance, planning processes and documentation, is a barrier to coherent regional MSP and the application of the ecosystem approach, due to a lack of understanding across borders. This paper reviews and synthetises the national and subnational frameworks for MSP in the Macaronesian archipelagos. It also compares the principles guiding MSP in each archipelago to determine the coherence across the region, with the aim of outlining the basis for transboundary cooperation in the European Macaronesia.En prens

Women’s pelvic floor muscle strength and urinary and anal incontinence after childbirth: a cross-sectional study

Abstract OBJECTIVE To analyse pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS) and urinary and anal incontinence (UI and AI) in the postpartum period. METHOD Cross-sectional study carried out with women in their first seven months after child birth. Data were collected through interviews, perineometry (Peritron™), and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). RESULTS 128 women participated in the study. The PFMS mean was 33.1 (SD=16.0) cmH2O and the prevalence of UI and AI was 7.8% and 5.5%, respectively. In the multiple analyses, the variables associated with PFMS were type of birth and cohabitation with a partner. Newborn’s weight, previous pregnancy, UI during pregnancy, and sexual activity showed an association with UI after child birth. Only AI prior to pregnancy was associated with AI after childbirth. CONCLUSION Vaginal birth predisposes to the reduction of PFMS, and caesarean section had a protective effect to its reduction. The occurrence of UI during pregnancy is a predictor of UI after childbirth, and women with previous pregnancies and newborns with higher weights are more likely to have UI after childbirth.AI prior to pregnancy is the only risk factor for its occurrence after childbirth. Associations between PFMS and cohabitation with a partner, and between UI and sexual activity do not make possible to conclude that these variables are directly associated

The first year of the ST Operation Committee: is there a future ?

The main objective of the ST Operation Committee (STOC) was to develop a proactive and homogeneous service of operation that satisfies the needs of the service users. Furthermore, the role of the Technical Control Room (TCR) should have been developed to a unique and competent entry point for ST operation by bringing the operation teams closer together on a daily basis. Have these objectives been achieved and to what extend? Is there a future for this committee and what could it look like? What are the implications of the first year of work on ST operation as a whole? This paper answers these questions and gives recommendations how to make best use of the STOC for the ST partners and ST, respectively

Actividad biológica de los extractos metanólicos de Verbesina encelioides frente a aislamientos clínicos de Staphylococcus aureus resistentes a meticilina.

Aim: To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of methanol extracts of capitula from Verbesina Encelioides, against Staphylococcus Aureus resistant to methicillin.Material and methods: Agar diffusion replacing paper disc for wells in solidified Mueller Hinton agar culture medium.Results: Inhibition zone at all concentrations of plant extract tested against strains isolated from patients was reported.Conclusion: As the dose increases the diameter of inhibition zones also enhances in most of the assays, suggesting an antimicrobial activity.Objetivo: evaluar la capacidad antimicrobiana de los extractos metanólicos de capítulos de Verbesina encelioides, frente a Staphylococcus Aureus resistentes a meticilina.Material y Método: difusión en agar, sustituyendo el disco de papel por pocillos en el medio de cultivo agar Mueller Hinton solidificado.Resultado: se presentó halo de inhibición en todas las concentraciones del extracto vegetal ensayadas frente a las cepas aisladas de pacientes.Conclusión: a medida que aumenta la dosis aumenta el diámetro de los halos de inhibición, en la mayoría de los casos, lo que sugeriría una actividad antimicrobiana dosis dependiente de Verbesina enceloides

Drop Traffic in Microfluidic Ladder Networks with Fore-Aft Structural Asymmetry

We investigate the dynamics of pairs of drops in microfluidic ladder networks with slanted bypasses, which break the fore-aft structural symmetry. Our analytical results indicate that unlike symmetric ladder networks, structural asymmetry introduced by a single slanted bypass can be used to modulate the relative drop spacing, enabling them to contract, synchronize, expand, or even flip at the ladder exit. Our experiments confirm all these behaviors predicted by theory. Numerical analysis further shows that while ladder networks containing several identical bypasses are limited to nearly linear transformation of input delay between drops, mixed combination of bypasses can cause significant non-linear transformation enabling coding and decoding of input delays.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Urinary incontinence related to perineal muscle strength in the first trimester of pregnancy: cross-sectional study

Objective To analyze pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS), urinary continence and quality of life related to urinary incontinence (UI) of women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Method Cross-sectional study with a sample of 500 women who started prenatal care in a complementary healthcare facility in Guarulhos, state of São Paulo, from 2012 and 2013. Pelvic floor muscle strength was evaluated through perineometry. The pregnant women who presented UI answered the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). Results It was found that maternal age (OR=1.06; CI95% 1.02-1.11) and prior UI (OR=15.12; 95%CI 8.19-27.92) are the variables that, in tandem, best explain the occurrence of UI at the beginning of pregnancy. The mean score on the ICIQ-SF was 8.2 (SD=3.9), considered a moderate impact on quality of life. Conclusion Older pregnant women with prior UI are more likely to have UI in the first trimester of pregnancy.
</jats:p

Larval Development in Tropical Gar (Atractosteus tropicus) Is Dependent on the Embryonic Thermal Regime: Ecological Implications under a Climate Change Context

In ectotherm species, environmental temperature plays a key role in development, growth, and survival. Thus, determining how temperature affects fish populations is of utmost importance to accurately predict the risk of climate change over fisheries and aquaculture, critical to warrant nutrition and food security in the coming years. Here, the potential effects of abnormal thermal regimes (24, 28 and 32 C; TR24, TR28, and TR32, respectively) exclusively applied during embryogenesis in tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus) has been explored to decipher the potential consequences on hatching and growth from fertilization to 16 days post-fertilization (dpf), while effects on skeletal development and body morphology were explored at fertilization and 16 dpf. Egg incubation at higher temperatures induced an early hatching and mouth opening. A higher hatching rate was obtained in eggs incubated at 28 C when compared to those at 24 C. No differences were found in fish survival at 16 dpf, with values ranging from 84.89 to 88.86%, but increased wet body weight and standard length were found in larvae from TR24 and TR32 groups. Thermal regime during embryogenesis also altered the rate at which the skeletal development occurs. Larvae from the TR32 group showed an advanced skeletal development, with a higher development of cartilaginous structures at hatching but reduced at 16 dpf when compared with the TR24 and TR28 groups. Furthermore, this advanced skeletal development seemed to determine the fish body morphology. Based on biometric measures, a principal component analysis showed how along development, larvae from each thermal regime were clustered together, but with each population remaining clearly separated from each other. The current study shows how changes in temperature may induce craniofacial and morphological alterations in fish during early stages and contribute to understanding the possible effects of global warming in early development of fish and its ecological implications.Versión del edito