A Multiview Visualisation Architecture for Open Distributed Systems

Program visualisation is an attractive way for understanding collaboration structures of complex distributed systems. By using the concepts of the open distributed processing-reference model (ODP-RM) as entities for visualisation, a multiview visualisation architecture is presented, which provides a large degree of flexibility in visualising the actions of an ODP system. The architecture has been implemented for visualising the CORBA system resulting in a visualisation tool called OBVlouS

Design of a middleware for QoS-aware distribution transparent content delivery

Developers of distributed multimedia applications face a diversity of multimedia formats, streaming platforms and streaming protocols. Furthermore, support for end-to-end quality-of-service (QoS) is a crucial factor for the development of future distributed multimedia systems. This paper discusses the architecture, design and implementation of a QoS-aware middleware platform for content delivery. The platform supports the development of distributed multimedia applications and can deliver content with QoS guarantees. QoS support is offered by means of an agent infrastructure for QoS negotiation and enforcement. Properties of content are represented using a generic content representation model described using the OMG Meta Object Facility (MOF) model. A content delivery framework manages stream paths for content delivery despite differences in streaming protocols and content encoding. The integration of the QoS support, content representation and content delivery framework results in a QoS-aware middleware that enables representation transparent and location transparent delivery of content

Service and device discovery of nodes in a wireless sensor network

Emerging wireless communication standards and more capable sensors and actuators have pushed further development of wireless sensor networks. Deploying a large number of sensor\ud nodes requires a high-level framework enabling the devices to present themselves and the resources they hold. The device and the resources can be described as services, and in this paper, we review a number of well-known service discovery protocols. Bonjour stands out with its auto-configuration, distributed architecture, and sharing of resources. We also present a lightweight implementation in order to demonstrate that an emerging standards-based device and service discovery protocol can actually be deployed on small wireless sensor nodes

Context-aware QoS provisioning for an M-health service platform

Inevitably, healthcare goes mobile. Recently developed mobile healthcare (i.e., m-health) services allow healthcare professionals to monitor mobile patient's vital signs and provide feedback to this patient anywhere at any time. Due to the nature of current supporting mobile service platforms, m-health services are delivered with a best-effort, i.e., there are no guarantees on the delivered Quality of Service (QoS). In this paper, we argue that the use of context information in an m-health service platform improves the delivered QoS. We give a first attempt to merge context information with a QoS-aware mobile service platform in the m-health services domain. We illustrate this with an epilepsy tele-monitoring scenario

The insect pest complex and related problems of lowland rice cultivation in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

CHAPTER 1.The Department of Entomology of the Research Institute for Agriculture at Maros is concerned with insect pests of food crops, and serves the needs of farmers, most of them living near subsistance level, and of extension workers.South Sulawesi, formerly known as South Celebes, is a major rice-growing province and one of the two provinces of Indonesia that produces a rice surplus. The area planted with rice is about 550,000 hectares, which is more than half of the total arable land. A sketch of the agriculture of South Sulawesi is given.A justification of the activities is presented by the results that have been obtained while striving for a more up-to-date and varied research programme in order to achieve a better control of rice insects at farmers' level.CHAPTER 2.The major and minor insects pests of rice and the rice tungro virus are presented and the nature of damage described.The white stem borer, Tryporyza innotata is the most important pest. The rice seedbug, Leptocorisa oratorius, and the rice leaf folder, Cnaphalocrosis medinalis, come next. Insects of minor significance include the whorl maggot Hydrellia phillippina, the caseworm Nymphula stagnalis, armyworms Spodoptera spp., the green leafhopper Nephotettix virescens, the white-backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera, the pink stem borer Sesamia inferens, the striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis, the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, the green stinkbug Nezara viridula and grasshoppers.The brown planthopper is likely to become a major pest in South Sulawesi and it is quite possible that there will be other shifts in the future as well.CHAPTER 3.Evaluation systems for infestations in insecticide trials, in phenological studies and in varietal screening tests are described for the whorl maggot, caseworm, stem borers, brown planthopper, green leafhopper, leaf folder and seedbug. These systems include rating scales, assessments and direct and indirect counting methods.CHAPTER 4.Experiments to establish the crop losses inflicted by each individual insect species on its specific plant stages were conducted both in the field and in greenhouses.It was found that roughly 5 to 10 per cent of the crop is lost by the combined effects of normal, light infestations of Hydrellia, Cnaphalocrosis, Nymphula and grasshoppers up to four weeks after transplanting.Yield losses of 10 to 20 per cent caused by stem borers is the rule rather than the exception. There was a poor correlation between dead heart counts and yield loss, but every unit per cent white head consistently caused about one per cent loss in yield.Cnaphalocrosis medinalis infestations of the later vegetative and generative stages may often inflict losses of 5 to 10 per cent.Another 5 to 10 per cent is frequently caused by Leptocorisa oratorius, sucking on the ripening grains. Boiling mature grains in a KOH solution provides an easy and reliable method to assess the percentage of infested grains. This percentage of infested grains proved to be silimar to the yield loss inflicted.Defoliation experiments, designed to simulate the damage caused by leaffeeding insects, showed that rice does not fully recover after serious defoliations even in very early growing stages. The effect of defoliation is most severe between 7 and 9 weeks after transplanting. Towards maturity of the grains defoliation becomes progressively less damaging.Every one per cent increase in tungro infection reduces yield by a half or one per cent depending upon the rice variety and the time of infection.It is concluded that insects alone reduce the potential yield of rice varieties such as Pelita, C4-63, IR5, IR20, IR26, SPR and B462c by 1 to 3 tons per hectare or 30 to 40 per cent in South Sulawesi.CHAPTER 5.Population densities of most of the pest insects and the rice tungro virus incidence were monitored by rating scales and direct counts from the end of 1974 onwards. A light trap was used to monitor fluctuations of T. innotata, Ch. suppressalis, Noctuidae, Cn. medinalis, N. virescens and N. nigropictus.Of course, not many conclusions can be drawn from graphs that represent the data of less than two and a half years. They form, however, a basis for further work.CHAPTER 6.A great number of insecticide experiments were conducted with insecticides that became available in the late sixties and seventies. Up to about 1973 most of the attention was focussed on conventional applications, later other modes of applications were very successfully investigated.Insecticides proved to be effective in controlling the pest insects and tungro virus. Carbofuran is an excellent insecticide but chlordimeform, mephosfolan, cartap, diazinon, BPMC, monocrotophos and others are also good.Granular broadcast applications are superior to spraying. By far the best method is the root-zone application of systemic insecticides. The insecticide is applied between the roots and taken up by the plant. The Maros Research Institute developed and concentrated on the mud ball technique.If a lump, plucked from a big moist mud ball containing insecticide, is applied soon after transplanting, it often gives protection up to harvest time. The quantity of insecticide required is quite low, there is no equipment needed, it cannot be washed away, one application suffices and the secondary effects are probably negligible. The root-zone application almost invariably gives the highest yields and in many cases doubles even the best spray or granular application. It requires more labour, which is advantageous macro-economically, but is of course disliked by the farmer.It is envisaged that with the growing concern for the environment and ecosystems and the increasing prices of insecticides, there is a future for this rootzone application technique, in spite of its prophylactic nature. Several methods, such as mud balls and liquid applicator, and time and density of application are discussed.The total insecticide consumption in South Sulawesi is low, less than one litre per hectare per season. There is a discrepancy between what is available, what should be used and the actual demand. The situation is slowly changing for the better.CHAPTER 7.The incorporation of insect-resistant genes into high-yielding rice varieties has only recently been given much attention. Because of a coincidence, the search for varietal resistance has been most rewarding for Maros in the case of the leafhopper-transmitted tungro virus. Many thousand varieties and lines have been evaluated and the information has been incorporated into breeding material and varieties of the International Rice Research Institute and other institutions.From the screening for varietal resistance against the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, at least two local Sulawesi varieties were found promising for breeding activities. Biotype 1 is the predominant planthopper in South Sulawesi.The impact of the release of tungro-resistant varieties in South Sulawesi and brown planthopper resistant varieties elsewhere in Indonesia, has been enormous. In the latter case only temporary, due to the development of new biotypes. Voluntary restraints are suggested with the introduction of resistant material to places where that particular pest is not (yet) a problem, such as the brown planthopper in South Sulawesi.CHAPTER 8A detailed account is given of the recent tungro outbreak transmitted by the green leafhopper, Nephotettix virescens, in South Sulawesi with special reference to some ecological and phenological aspects.Discouraging the growing of Pelita and increasing the growing of resistant varieties, especially C4-63, IR20 and some local varieties have been the main reason for the decrease in tungro incidence.Insecticide sprays and broadcast applications are fairly effective in controlling the virus. The root-zone application of carbofuran, BPMC, cartap and mephosfolan proved to be extremely effective. When these insecticides are applied to the root- zone, the green leafhopper is killed before it can transmit sufficient tungro inoculum.Rice plants are infected by tungro in the field after transplanting and not in the seedbed. Also, direct-seeded rice is less infected than transplanted rice

Continuous digital health

© 2015 IEEE. A transformation is underway regarding how we deal with our health, not only because mobile Internet technology has made it possible to have continuous access to personal health information, but also because breaking the trend of ever-growing healthcare costs is increasingly necessary. Connectivity, interoperability, sensing, and instant feedback through smartphones all provide new opportunities for gaining insights into our health behavior. Such insights improve our understanding of what motivates people to make healthier changes throughout their lifetimes. Thus, this special issue reviews and shares advances in wireless, connected, and mobile health research that expand the possibilities

We'll stay in touch: Intuitive communication means for social connectedness

One of the dominant aspects in people’s well-being is social connectedness. Social connectedness refers to the subjective awareness of being in close interpersonal, meaningful, and positive social relationships and social contexts (Tilburg et al., 1998; Perlman & Paplau 1981). In our research project we studied whether new services and high-tech products can help to increase connectedness between families (i.e. small community). A multidisciplinary approach is adopted in which technical and Human Factors knowledge are combined. The technology approach is strongly based on rapid prototyping, extending, reusing, and integrating existing devices and services in a novel, innovative way. Human Factors knowledge aims at user-centred design and evaluation of a.o. user experiences.\ud When people are forced to leave their home environment for a period of time, the lack of social connectedness might become predominant. This might lead to feelings of loneliness and have a negative effect on wellbeing. The focus in this project is on spinal cord lesion patients in a rehabilitation clinic, and their family members at home. Spinal cord lesion patients have to stay in the rehabilitation clinic up to one year after their accident or illness.\ud The project consists of three phases:\ud 1. Inventory of technology possibilities and restrictions, and user requirements;\ud 2. Technical probe study; one technical device is tested\ud 3. Pilot study; an integrated combination of technological devices and services is teste

A Framework for Smart Distribution of Bio-signal Processing Units in M-Health

This paper introduces the Bio-Signal Processing Unit (BSPU) as a functional component that hosts (part of ) the bio-signal information processing algorithms that are needed for an m-health application. With our approach, the BSPUs can be dynamically assigned to available nodes between the bio-signal source and the application to optimize the use of computation and communication resources. The main contributions of this paper are: (1) it presents the supporting architecture (e.g. components and interfaces) and the mechanism (sequence of interactions) for BSPU distribution; (2) it proposes a coordination mechanism to ensure the correctness of the BSPU distribution; (3) it elaborates the design of smooth transition during BSPU distribution in order to minimize the disturbance to the m-health streaming application

A QoS-Control Architecture for Object Middleware

This paper presents an architecture for QoS-aware middleware platforms. We present a general framework for control, and specialise this framework for QoS provisioning in the middleware context. We identify different alternatives for control, and we elaborate the technical issues related to controlling the internal characteristics of object middleware. We illustrate our QoS control approach by means of a scenario based on CORBA