On improving FOIL Algorithm

FOIL is an Inductive Logic Programming Algorithm to discover first order rules to explain the patterns involved in a domain of knowledge. Domains as Information Retrieval or Information Extraction are handicaps for FOIL due to the huge amount of information it needs manage to devise the rules. Current solutions to problems in these domains are restricted to devising ad hoc domain dependent inductive algorithms that use a less-expressive formalism to code rules. We work on optimising FOIL learning process to deal with such complex domain problems while retaining expressiveness. Our hypothesis is that changing the information gain scoring function, used by FOIL to decide how rules are learnt, can reduce the number of steps the algorithm performs. We have analysed 15 scoring functions, normalised them into a common notation and checked a test in which they are computed. The learning process will be evaluated according to its efficiency, and the quality of the rules according to their precision, recall, complexity and specificity. The results reinforce our hypothesis, demonstrating that replacing the information gain can optimise both the FOIL algorithm execution and the learnt rules.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2007-64119Junta de Andalucía P07-TIC-2602Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-4100Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2008-04718-

Optimising FOIL by new scoring functions

FOIL is an Inductive Logic Programming Algorithm to dis cover first order rules to explain the patterns involved in a domain of knowledge. Domains with a huge amount of information are handicaps for FOIL due to the explosion of the search of space to devise the rules. Current solutions to problems in these domains are restricted to devising ad hoc domain dependent inductive algorithms that use a less-expressive formalism to code rules. We work on optimising FOIL learning process to deal with such complex domain problems while retaining expressiveness. Our hypothesis is that changing the Information Gain scoring function, used by FOIL to de cide how rules are learnt, can reduce the number of steps the algorithm performs. We have analysed 15 scoring functions, normalised them into a common notation and checked a test in which they are computed. The learning process will be evaluated according to its efficiency, and the quality of the rules according to their precision, recall, complexity and specificity. The results reinforce our hypothesis, demonstrating that replacing the Information Gain can optimise both the FOIL algorithm execution and the learnt rules

An Efficient Orchestration Engine for the Cloud

The Cloud is evolving as a cost-effective solution to run services that support a variety of business processes. It is not surprising then that Orchestration as a Service (OaaS) is gaining importance as a means to integrate the many services a typical company runs or outsources in the Cloud. OaaS requires very efficient orchestration engines: the faster they work, the less customers have to pay and the more customers can be served. In this paper, we report on a new orchestration engine; we have performed a series of stringent experiments that prove that it outperforms a state-of-the-art orchestration engine in widespread use. Our conclusion is that our proposal is an efficient, solid orchestration engine ready for the Cloud.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2007-64119Junta de Andalucía P07-TIC-2602Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-4100Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2008- 04718-EMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2010-21744Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad TIN2010-09809-EMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2010-10811-EMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2010-09988-

A Distributed Solution to Synchronous Multiparty Interaction

Multiparty interactions are the key to describe problems where three or more processes need to collaborate simultaneously in order to solve a problem, and this paper aims to show the way we have implemented this mechanism in a network computer. The main feature of our solution is that it is not bound up with the underlying network, so it is highly portable. We also report some experimental results that showthat our prototype performs quite well on low cost computers

Actas del Taller de Trabajo Zoco’08 / JISBD Integración de Aplicaciones Web : XIII Jornadas de Ingeniería del Software y Bases de Datos Gijón, 7 al 10 de Octubre de 2008

Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2007-64119Junta de Andalucía P07-TIC-0260

A cloud-based integration platform for enterprise application integration: A Model-Driven Engineering approach

This article addresses major information systems integration problems, approaches, technologies, and tools within the context of Model-Driven Software Engineering. The Guaraná integration platform is introduced as an innovative platform amongst state-of-the-art technologies available for enterprises to design and implement integration solutions. In this article, we present its domain-specificmodeling language and its industrial cloud-based web development platform, which supports the design and implementation of integration solutions. A real-world case study is described and analyzed; then, we delve into its design and implementation, to finally disclose ten measures that empirically help estimating the amount of effort involved in the development of integration solutions

The Strawberry FaWRKY1 Transcription Factor Negatively Regulates Resistance to Colletotrichum acutatum in Fruit Upon Infection

Strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) is a major food crop worldwide, due to the flavor, aroma and health benefits of the fruit, but its productivity and quality are seriously limited by a large variety of phytopathogens, including Colletotrichum spp. So far, key factors regulating strawberry immune response remain unknown. The FaWRKY1 gene has been previously proposed as an important element mediating defense responses in strawberry to Colletotrichum acutatum. To get further insight into the functional role that FaWRKY1 plays in the defense mechanism, Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation was used both to silence and overexpress the FaWRKY1 gene in strawberry fruits (Fragaria ×ananassa cv. Primoris), which were later analyzed upon C. acutatum inoculation. Susceptibility tests were performed after pathogen infection comparing the severity of disease between the two agroinfiltrated opposite halves of the same fruit, one half bearing a construct either for FaWRKY1 overexpression or RNAi-mediated silencing and the other half bearing the empty vector, as control. The severity of tissue damage was monitored and found to be visibly reduced at five days after pathogen inoculation in the fruit half where FaWRKY1 was transiently silenced compared to that of the opposite control half and statistical analysis corroborated a significant reduction in disease susceptibility. Contrarily, a similar level of susceptibility was found when FaWRKY1 overexpression and control fruit samples, was compared. These results unravel a negative regulatory role of FaWRKY1 in resistance to the phytopathogenic fungus C. acutatum in strawberry fruit and contrast with the previous role described for this gene in Arabidopsis as positive regulator of resistance against the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae. Based on previous results, a tentative working model for WRKY75 like genes after pathogen infection is proposed and the expression pattern of potential downstream FaWRKY1 target genes was also analyzed in strawberry fruit upon C. acutatum infection. Our results highlight that FaWRKY1 might display different function according to species, plant tissue and/or type of pathogen and underline the intricate FaWRKY1 responsive defense regulatory mechanism taking place in strawberry against this important crop pathogen

Long Term Ground Deformation in Volcanic Islands: Tenerife and La Palma, Canaries

Canary Islands form a volcanic archipelago with 7 major islands with a long-standing history of volcanic activity that began more than 40 million years ago More than a dozen eruptions have occurred on the islands of Tenerife, Lanzarote, and La Palma since the 16 th century. We used several geodetic techniques in order to achieve ground deformation on those islands. We propose that the measured deformation is directly related to gravitational sinking of the intrusive core the island into a weak lithosphere. We favour this thesis, relative to that of spreading, because neither the published data on the geology of Tenerife show evidence of compressional structures around the base of the island nor the GPS data indicate significant radial displacements, which would have been present in the case of spreading. In adition, given that the crust has been inflected under the mass of Tenerife, following Borgia (1994), we propose that the volcanic edifice is in a state of compression, which, in some volcanoes, has in the past been associated with hazardous explosive eruptions

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life