MeDICINE: Rapid Prototyping of Production-Ready Network Services in Multi-PoP Environments

Virtualized network services consisting of multiple individual network functions are already today deployed across multiple sites, so called multi-PoP (points of presence) environ- ments. This allows to improve service performance by optimizing its placement in the network. But prototyping and testing of these complex distributed software systems becomes extremely challenging. The reason is that not only the network service as such has to be tested but also its integration with management and orchestration systems. Existing solutions, like simulators, basic network emulators, or local cloud testbeds, do not support all aspects of these tasks. To this end, we introduce MeDICINE, a novel NFV prototyping platform that is able to execute production-ready network func- tions, provided as software containers, in an emulated multi-PoP environment. These network functions can be controlled by any third-party management and orchestration system that connects to our platform through standard interfaces. Based on this, a developer can use our platform to prototype and test complex network services in a realistic environment running on his laptop.Comment: 6 pages, pre-prin

Two Decades of Maude

This paper is a tribute to José Meseguer, from the rest of us in the Maude team, reviewing the past, the present, and the future of the language and system with which we have been working for around two decades under his leadership. After reviewing the origins and the language's main features, we present the latest additions to the language and some features currently under development. This paper is not an introduction to Maude, and some familiarity with it and with rewriting logic are indeed assumed.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Efficient CRISPR-rAAV engineering of endogenous genes to study protein function by allele-specific RNAi.

Gene knockout strategies, RNAi and rescue experiments are all employed to study mammalian gene function. However, the disadvantages of these approaches include: loss of function adaptation, reduced viability and gene overexpression that rarely matches endogenous levels. Here, we developed an endogenous gene knockdown/rescue strategy that combines RNAi selectivity with a highly efficient CRISPR directed recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus (rAAV) mediated gene targeting approach to introduce allele-specific mutations plus an allele-selective siRNA Sensitive (siSN) site that allows for studying gene mutations while maintaining endogenous expression and regulation of the gene of interest. CRISPR/Cas9 plus rAAV targeted gene-replacement and introduction of allele-specific RNAi sensitivity mutations in the CDK2 and CDK1 genes resulted in a >85% site-specific recombination of Neo-resistant clones versus ∼8% for rAAV alone. RNAi knockdown of wild type (WT) Cdk2 with siWT in heterozygotic knockin cells resulted in the mutant Cdk2 phenotype cell cycle arrest, whereas allele specific knockdown of mutant CDK2 with siSN resulted in a wild type phenotype. Together, these observations demonstrate the ability of CRISPR plus rAAV to efficiently recombine a genomic locus and tag it with a selective siRNA sequence that allows for allele-selective phenotypic assays of the gene of interest while it remains expressed and regulated under endogenous control mechanisms

Trends in shark bycatch research: current status and research needs

Over the last few decades, much effort has been devoted towards quantifying and reducing bycatch in marine fisheries. Of late, there has been a particular focus on sharks given that bycatch is a frequently listed threat for sharks on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List. However, currently there are no quantitative reviews or syntheses that explore the issue of shark bycatch globally which is problematic given that such a synthesis could inform conservation actions and identify pressing research gaps. We performed a qualitative and quantitative survey of the peer-reviewed literature to characterize trends in shark bycatch research with a particular goal of identifying research needs and opportunities. Using a structured literature review we identified 103 papers that met our search criteria, with the first one published in 1993. Early research efforts focused on documenting the scope of bycatch (i.e., determining that sharks were indeed captured as bycatch), but more recently there have been increased efforts devoted to developing and evaluating bycatch reduction strategies for sharks. Research activity was most common in the North Atlantic (~ 40% of the total articles analysed) with comparatively less research in other areas such as the Indo-Pacific region where shark bycatch is regarded as particularly common and problematic. Most studies were observational with comparatively fewer experimental and modeling studies, and even fewer that combined research approaches. Gear modifications (e.g., hook size and type for long lines, net size and mesh design for nets) were the most commonly evaluated strategy for reducing shark bycatch; however, development and use of techniques like repellents, or seasonal area closures, or a combination of strategies, offer interesting possibilities that require further study. In addition, although many sharks are discarded, little is known about post-release survival or sub-lethal consequences of fisheries interactions, or evaluations of different fish handling strategies, making it difficult to quantify the true cost of bycatch or to recommend handling strategies to fishers. Although there are some inherent challenges with developing and testing shark bycatch reduction strategies, there is an urgent need to do so and this would be best achieved through interdisciplinary research that spans field, laboratory, and modeling realms.Fil: Molina, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Cooke, Steven J.. Carleton University; Canad

Análisis de factibilidad para la implementación de herramientas TIC, en las comunidades La Esperanza y El Bosque, de la localidad Usme, en Bogotá D.C.

Práctica SocialEl presente trabajo de grado se desarrolló en las comunidades La Esperanza y El Bosque, UPZ 57 Gran Yomasa, de la localidad Usme, en Bogotá D.C., con el objetivo de proponer herramientas factibles apoyadas en las TIC, que contribuyan a mejorar las problemáticas sociales halladas en la comunidad. A través de herramientas de recolección de información como encuestas y registros de capacidad tecnológica, se realizó la caracterización de los recursos asociados a las TIC en los cafés internet, en los colegios del sector y en los miembros de la comunidad. Adicionalmente, se obtuvo la opinión de los habitantes acerca de sus condiciones de habitabilidad y las problemáticas sociales con las cuales deben enfrentarse en su vida cotidiana. Mediante el uso de la metodología de Investigación Acción Participativa (IAP) y de los métodos de recopilación de datos para análisis cualitativo, se capturo la realidad social de los habitantes y se identificaron las problemáticas sociales de mayor prioridad que tienen los miembros de la comunidad. Con los resultados de la investigación y el análisis de la información de las encuestas aplicadas, se propusieron herramientas TIC factibles de ser implementadas en los barrios La Esperanza y El Bosque que permitan mejorar las problemáticas sociales más críticas presentes en la comunidad.INTRODUCCIÓN 1. GENERALIDADES 2. DESARROLLO DEL PROYECTO 3. CONCLUSIONES 4. RECOMENDACIONES BIBLIOGRAFÍA ANEXOSPregradoIngeniero de Sistema

Beta cortical oscillatory activities and their relationship to postural control in a standing balance demanding test: influence of aging

Background: Age-related changes in the cortical control of standing balance may provide a modifiable mechanism underlying falls in older adults. Thus, this study examined the cortical response to sensory and mechanical perturbations in older adults while standing and examined the relationship between cortical activation and postural control. Methods: A cohort of community dwelling young (18–30 years, N = 10) and older adults (65–85 years, N = 11) performed the sensory organization test (SOT), motor control test (MCT), and adaptation test (ADT) while high-density electroencephalography (EEG) and center of pressure (COP) data were recorded in this cross-sectional study. Linear mixed models examined cohort differences for cortical activities, using relative beta power, and postural control performance, while Spearman correlations were used to investigate the relationship between relative beta power and COP indices in each test. Results: Under sensory manipulation, older adults demonstrated significantly higher relative beta power at all postural control-related cortical areas (p \u3c 0.01), while under rapid mechanical perturbations, older adults demonstrated significantly higher relative beta power at central areas (p \u3c 0.05). As task difficulty increased, young adults had increased relative beta band power while older adults demonstrated decreased relative beta power (p \u3c 0.01). During sensory manipulation with mild mechanical perturbations, specifically in eyes open conditions, higher relative beta power at the parietal area in young adults was associated with worse postural control performance (p \u3c 0.001). Under rapid mechanical perturbations, specifically in novel conditions, higher relative beta power at the central area in older adults was associated with longer movement latency (p \u3c 0.05). However, poor reliability measures of cortical activity assessments were found during MCT and ADT, which limits the ability to interpret the reported results. Discussion: Cortical areas are increasingly recruited to maintain upright postural control, even though cortical resources may be limited, in older adults. Considering the limitation regarding mechanical perturbation reliability, future studies should include a larger number of repeated mechanical perturbation trials

Clear Theories Are Needed to Interpret Differences: Perspectives on the Bilingual Advantage Debate

The heated debate regarding bilingual cognitive advantages remains ongoing. While there are many studies supporting positive cognitive effects of bilingualism, recent meta-analyses have concluded that there is no consistent evidence for a bilingual advantage. In this article we focus on several theoretical concerns. First, we discuss changes in theoretical frameworks, which have led to the development of insufficiently clear theories and hypotheses that are difficult to falsify. Next, we discuss the development of looking at bilingual experiences and the need to better understand language control. Last, we argue that the move from behavioural studies to a focus on brain plasticity is not going to solve the debate on cognitive effects, especially not when brain changes are interpreted in the absence of behavioural differences. Clearer theories on both behavioural and neural effects of bilingualism are needed. However, to achieve this, a solid understanding of both bilingualism and executive functions is needed first

An overview on the multidimensional optimal order detection method

Finite volume method is the usual framework to deal with numerical approximations for hyperbolic systems such as Shallow-Water or Euler equations due to its natural built-in conservation property. Since the first-order method produces too much numerical diffusion, popular second-order techniques, based on the MUSCL methodology, have been widely developed in the ’80s to provide both accurate solutions and robust schemes, avoiding non-physical oscillations in the vicinity of the discontinuities. Although second-order schemes are accurate enough for the major industrial applications, they still generate too much numerical diffusion for particular situations (acoustic, aeronautic, long time simulation for Tsunami) and very high-order methods i.e. larger than third-order, are required to provide an excellent approximation for local smooth solution as well as an efficient control on the spurious oscillations deriving from the Gibbs’ phenomenon. During the ’90s and up to nowadays, two main techniques have been developed to tackle the accuracy issue. The ENO/WENO which can cast in the finite volume context mainly concerns structured grids since the unstructured case turns to be very complex with a huge computational cost. The Discontinuous Galerkin method handles very well accurate approximations but the computational cost and implementation effort are also very high. In 2010 was published a seminal paper that proposed a radically different method. The philosophy consists to use an a posteriori approach to prevent from creating oscillations whereas the traditional methods employ an a priori method which dramatically cuts the accuracy order. In this document, I shall briefly present the MOOD method, show its main advantages and give an overview of the current applications.This research was financed by FEDER Funds through Programa Operational Fatores de Competitividade — COMPETE and by Portuguese Funds FCT — Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, within the Projects PEst-C/MAT/UI0013/2014, PTDC/MAT/121185/2010 and FCT-ANR/MAT-NAN/0122/2012