Dynamic verification of mashups of service-oriented things through a mediation platform

The new Internet is evolving into the vision of the Internet of Things, where physical world entities are integrated into virtual world things. Things are expected to become active participants in business, information and social processes. Then, the Internet of Things could benefit from the Web Service architecture like today’s Web does; so Future service-oriented Internet things will offer their functionality via service-enabled interfaces. As demonstrated in previous work, there is a need of considering the behaviour of things to develop applications in a more rigorous way. We proposed a lightweight model for representing such behaviour based on the service-oriented paradigm and extending the standard DPWS profile to specify the (partial) order with which things can receive messages. To check whether a mashup of things respects the behaviour, specified at design-time, of composed things, we proposed a static verification. However, at run-time a thing may change its behaviour or receive requests from instances of different mashups. Then, it is required to check and detect dynamically possible invalid invocations provoked by the behaviour’s changes. In this work, we extend our static verification with an approach based on mediation techniques and complex event processing to detect and inhibit invalid invocations, checking that things only receive requests compatible with their behaviour. The solution automatically generates the required elements to perform run-time validation of invocations, and it may be extended to validate other issues. Here, we have also dealt with quality of service and temporal restrictions

Social behavior and productive and stress parameters in Holstein steers fattened in three contrasting production systems.

AbstractBeef production with Holstein male calves is becoming more intensive in Uruguay. Some of the new systems with confined animals could improve productivity but also could compromise animal welfare. The aim of this study was to compare animal welfare, stress evidence and productivity of castrated young males reared in three differentproductive systems. The traditional pastoral system (T3) was compared with, a confined fattening system (T1) and an alternative one with confinement and six hours diary access to pastures (T2). The experiment was performed for evaluating the first phase of fattening period (initial mean live weight 93±20.3 kg; and 112±11 days of age). Nodifferences (p = 0.1254) between treatments were detected for live weight gain 0.756±0.829, 0.757±0.676 and 0.730±0.762 kg day-1 for T1, T2 and T3, respectively. There was no evidences of increasing stress or health problems in any production system, according to the obtained serum profile of enzymes and hormones, howeverpermanent confined animals increased agonistic behavior, which could reflect some welfare problems that might increase in the following phases of the fattening process. © Canadian Center of Science and Educatio

Reconstructing the gorte and spiaz de navesele landslides, NE of Lake Garda, Trentino dolomites (Italy)

We applied a multi-method approach to reconstruct the Gorte rock avalanche (85–95 Mm3) located at the northeastern end of Lake Garda. The combination of field mapping, characterization of bedrock discontinuities, Dan3D-Flex runout modeling and dating of boulders with cosmogenic 36 Cl supports the conclusion that the deposits stem from a single rock avalanche at 6.1 ± 0.8 ka. The Gorte event may have triggered the Spiaz de Navesele–Salto della Capra landslide (3.2 Mm3), whose deposits cover the southern end of the Gorte deposits. First-order controls on detachment were the NNE–SSW-and WNW–ESE-oriented fractures in the limestone bedrock, related to the Giudicarie and Schio-Vicenza fault systems, respectively. Dan3D-Flex runout modeling sufficiently reproduced the Gorte rock avalanche, which involved detachment and sliding of a quasi-intact block, likely along marly interbeds, followed by rapid disintegration. The frictional rheology in the source area and the turbulent frictional rheology (Voellmy) in the remaining part best replicate the observed deposit extent and thickness. Heavy precipitation that occurred at that time may have contributed to failure at Gorte. Nonetheless, its timing overlaps with the nearby (<15 km) Dosso Gardene (6630–6290 cal BP) and Marocca Principale (5.3 ± 0.9 ka) landslides, making a seismic trigger plausible

Enhanced negative feedback sensitivity of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis in chronic myogenous facial pain

Dysregulations of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, as a physiological substrate of stress, have been observed in patients with different stress-related and chronic pain disorders. In this study, we investigated possible dysregulations of the HPA axis in patients with masticatory muscles pain. In 20 patients with myogenous facial pain and 20 healthy controls, awakening cortisol responses, i.e.cortisol rise in the first hour after awakening, as well as a short circadian free cortisol profile, i.e. four cortisol samples over 12h during the day, were assessed before and after administration of 0.5mg dexamethasone. Results: In comparison to controls, chronic myogenous facial pain patients showed enhanced and prolonged suppression of cortisol after the administration of 0.5mg dexamethasone. Unstimulated cortisol response (before dexamethasone-intake) to awakening and cortisol levels during the day did not differ between the groups. Dysregulation in terms of enhanced negative feedback suppression exists in chronic myogenous facial pain. These results are in line with a multifactorial etiology of chronic facial pain, shifting the perspective away from a local towards a more central etiology with dysregulations in the stress and pain modulating system

Controlled Language Tools' and'Information Extraction Tools' for CALL Applications

This paper describes how mature NLP that has been successfully applied in the area of controlled language checking can be used to deliver intelligent CALL applications. It describes how an autonomous, longdistance 2nd language learning system for advanced learners can be created. The architecture of the system consists of a web-based multimodal user interface, skillspecific learning tools (reading, listening, speaking and writing tool), and a set of NLP-based evaluation tools. All modules are integrated in a flexible software architecture ensuring a user-friendly environment based on advanced concepts in language didactics. The thrust of the project is to show the potential of NLP for automatic evaluation of students’ productions.LLES, Advanced Learning Long Distnace, System, by European Comission (IST-2001-34246)No data 2022UE

Integrating NLP in ICALL Applications

This paper describes how mature NLP that has been successfully applied in the area of controlled language checking can be used to deliver intelligent CALL applications1. It describe how an autonomous, long-distance second-language learning system for advanced learners2 can be created. The architecture of the system consists of a multimodal user interface, a set of skill-specific learning tools, and a set of NLP-based evaluation tools. All modules are integrated in a flexible and scalable software architecture allowing for the use of NLP and ensuring a user-friendly environment based on advanced concepts in language didactics. The multimodal user interface is web-based and incorporate off-the-shelf ASR. The set of skill-specific learning tools consists of a reading, listening, speaking and a writing tool. The thrust of the project is to show the potential of NLP in evaluation of students’ productions.LLES, Advanced Learning Long Distnace, System, by European Comission (IST-2001-34246)No data 2022UE